


Nodus Tollens

by Sutaoris



Series: Creatures Such As We [1]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Bullying, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Everyone Has Issues, Gen, Huang Zi Tao | Z.Tao/Wu Yi Fan | Kris-Centric, Internal Conflict, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mentioned GOT7 Ensemble, Missing Persons, Non-Consensual Blood Drinking, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Abuse, Past Character Death, Self-Harm, Slow Burn, Suicide Attempt, Tags May Change, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches, mystery I guess, some of this sounds worse then it is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2020-12-09 16:56:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 31
Words: 67,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20998211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sutaoris/pseuds/Sutaoris
Summary: In a world where witches are treated like Indentured servants, lesser then even humans to some, young witch Tao is forced to become the caretaker of a group of supernaturals who seem to be nothing but hostile towards him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time ever writing a fic like this, so please forgive me for any mistakes.  
This story isn't by any means an accurate representation of the people who are in it. Please read the tags since topics that may be triggering will be brought up later.  
The title of This fic will be changed from Sonder to Nodus Tollens because i feel like it suites it better.

_Nodus Tollens (noun): The realization that the plot of your life doesn't make sense to you anymore _

The cold evening air greeted Tao as he stepped out of his parked car. Looking up at the outside the large farm style house, a tired breath escaped his lips involuntarily. The house should have looked warm and inviting based on design alone, but it didn’t. The drive had been long and nerve wracking, it had been his first time driving any distance longer than the next town over, not to mention the instructions he had been given for the location had been lacking and a bit confusing. But after a long 12 hours of nothing but the sounds of his minimally working car to guide him, he had finally made it to the place he would spend the next part of his life. Even with his feet planted on the ground, his nerves still remained with him.

He wasn’t the one who was supposed to do this, yet here he was with no choice. 

Slowly he made his way up the stairs to the large front door, noting how sturdy the wood appeared, and how there was no glass or windows around the door. No way to tell who was there without opening the door or spotting whomever was visiting before they made it to the front porch. That would probably be something he would have to fix as the new caretaker of the house. 

He shakily raised a hand to knock on the door, making sure to hit it hard enough so it could hopefully be heard throughout the house, seeing as there was no doorbell. Figuring whomever was inside might be busy, he waited a few minutes, letting his eyes wander around the setting. The house was isolated, the nearest town being a good hour drive away. Trees scattered the landscape, not necessarily thick enough to say the house was in the woods, but close enough together it gave an off feeling that something could be lurking amongst the trees, watching.

No sounds came from the house.

He knocked again. But the minutes once more rolled on, and Tao couldn’t help but start to shake. The weather wasn’t the greatest this time of year, and it would only get colder the more time passed by. The clothes he had weren’t exactly the best for this temperature, but there were all he had. 

After what had been a good half an hour of waiting, a piece of paper finally slipped out from under the door. Confused, he reached down to pick it up, quickly reading the neat writing.

_New Caretaker, Let's make this simple. Your job is to simply take care of the building and keep everything we need instock. You will be leaving us alone and not making any attempts to communicate with us unless you are spoken to first._

Tao scoffed, he couldn’t believe the demanding tone in the words written on the paper. His job was to take care of the place, yes, but he had been instructed to do more than that. The owner had said Tao had to help the beings inside; with their schooling, their tasks, their appointments. There was no way he could do that without talking to them. 

Sure, he had also been informed that all the previous caretakers had been scared away, but Tao wouldn’t be able to quit or leave. The man in charge had made sure Tao had gotten as little information as possible. He had no idea of who or what was in the house,nor their reason for being there instead of wherever they had come from. Maybe he would find out over time, but for now, he doubted it. 

Figuring they wouldn’t be coming to the door to let him in, Tao tried the door only to find it locked. His hope of having some sort of friendly relationship with the people had been squashed, now he could really only hope they wouldn’t torment him to much. He pulled the spare key he had been given from his pocket and unlocked the door, quickly stepping in and into the warmth of the building. 

The entryway was quite large, and had twin staircases leading up to the 2nd floor, large balconies leaving the space above him open. He could spot and empty living room to his right, and just as empty dining room to his left. The place had sparse decorations and furniture from what he could see in the dim lighting. The sparsity was nothing new to him, but the amount of space was overwhelming, nothing like his shoebox apartment he had spent most of his life in.

“Is there anybody there? I’m your new Caretaker, Tao.” he called out to the emptiness. Despite the note, Tao wasn’t just going to roll over and let them walk over him. Surely not all of the residents would hate him. From what he remembered the owner saying, at least 4 people were living there as far as he knew. But in all honesty, the owner hadn’t sounded the most confident. And clearly someone was close by, since somebody had to have slipped the paper under the door. 

He felt the new presence immediately, looking up to see the outline of a person on the next floor. It was difficult to make anything distinct out with the low lighting, but Tao Couldn’t fail to see the glowing gold eyes looking down upon him, filled with nothing but animosity. The distance between them may have been great, but Tao felt as if he was suffocating under the others gaze. 

Tao had barely any time to move to the side as the figure quickly lunged down from the balcony ,landing in the spot he had been only moments before. But Instead of a person, a snarling wolf stood on the spot, all attention still on its prey. The creature was massive with thick fur which was very light in color, the human equivalent of blonde. Carefully Tao took a step back.

“Please don’t attack-” Once again the creature went for him, this time much faster with the shorter distance. As difficult as it was, Tao was able to side step again, this time pulling back further as to get as far as away he could from the wolf. With each move Tao could feel his heart pounding harder in his chest as his breath became unsteady. This sort of hostility right out the gate was not expected, and to be honest, was far too dangerous. 

“What is going on here?” A voice asked all to calmly, causing Tao to look up and see a new person coming down the stairs. The wolf's eyes never left Tao, instead a growl left him. The new arrival walked gracefully as if he had not a care in the world, letting his overly long bathrobe drag behind him very dramatically. The male was shorter than Tao, with pale skin and dark hair that was very messy at the current moment. The trait the stuck out about him had to be his silver eyes, glowing just the same as the wolves did. 

The male looked Tao up and down, a frown forming on his face.”You’re not the person who’s supposed to be here. We were informed a woman would be joining us.”

It took every nerve in Tao’s body to not shudder at the others harsh tone, at his words. Of course the owner has not gave warning of the switch that someone else had to come. That some kid had to do a task that the original person would have had a much easier time with with her experience. Hell, Irene would have probably enjoyed the break from taking care of wild children and creepy older men. She had always seemed to work best with teens and young adults.

“Irene is unable to come, I have been sent in her stead.” Tao willed his voice to keep calm and steady, not wanting for the hostile creatures to pick up too much of his feelings. There was no way he would give them anything they could use against him this early on. Not with one of the residents already making attempts on his life.

The male looked annoyed while another growl came from the wolf. This really was a disaster in the making.

“You smell human.” The male commented, looking over Tao’s face, waiting for his reaction.

“I can assure you I’m a witch. They wouldn’t risk a human learning anything.” Tao said flatly. He really hoped this guy wouldn’t ask for any magic use tonight, Tao was exhausted and his nerves were too off to do anything fancy at the moment. The male seemed content with his answer, turning to the wolf. The wolf made no attempt to back down.

“You’re not wanted here.”

The words stung painfully, But Tao didn’t budge. He clenched his jaw tightly, not willing to let his mind wander. Now wasn’t the time to think of the past, the other time he had heard that phrase. As much as the people wanted to get rid of him, Tao would be one they couldn’t. After he gained enough confidence his voice wouldn’t waver, He let his eyes wander from the wolf who had spoken back to the male.

“Just tell me where my room is and I will be out of your way. The note didn’t say where you wanted me.” Tao said, catching the other male off guard as a look of surprised covered his face, a hint of confusion as well. At least the other humanoid was making attempts at being civil, and Tao would use that to any advantage he could right now.

“Up the stairs, down the hall to the left, last room on the right.” He answered, pointing. As soon as he did so the wolf nipped at the male, angry growls now directed to the other. Of course the wolf was upset, some random person was now in his home and was being told he could stay. But Tao wasn’t going to stick around to see the outcome, opting to give a quick bow and thank you before bolting up the stairs to the room.

He entered it quickly, shutting the door and leaning against it, trying to calm his heart. Even this far away, he could still hear the twos muffled argument. Tao chose to tune it out, instead looking at his new space. 

The room was small, standing in the middle of the room he could easily touch the walls if he put his arms out. A tiny bed laid pushed up against the wall, with the tall dresser next to it. There was a closet set up next to the door, smaller than the door itself, only sticking out the minimum amount to hold clothes. There were no windows, only a small light that had a string attached to it to turn it on and bring some light to the dark walls..

It wasn’t much, But Tao couldn’t have been happier. 

Never before had he ever had his own bed, his own space to himself. Not that he had anything against sharing with his siblings, he had loved them dearly and enjoyed the comfort of having someone always around. But there was a certain appeal to having a space he could do whatever he wanted in, decorate how he wanted, keep as messy or as clean as he wanted without worrying about ruining anyone's experience. It would be hard getting used to sleeping alone, not needing to take care of anyone, and Tao would probably wake up upset at the emptiness. But he needed to accept things as they were. Even if he could leave, things wouldn’t be the same as they were. Even if he was allowed back in the apartment, there would be nothing there, nobody there…

He shook his head, not wanting to let the day get any worse, not willing to explore those dark thoughts. Maybe in a few weeks, after he was settled down and the people he would be taking care of at least tolerated his existence he would allow himself to explore his emotions. For now, he set up a quick small protection ward, not fully trusting the wolf to not try anything in his sleep. With such an aggressive force, it would be much better to be safe than sorry. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it would at least wake Tao up to any intruders with ill intent and keep them at bay for a minute or so.

He pondered for a moment over the fact that there were more then two different supernatural species living in the same house. It was quite rare for any race to branch out and mix, witches being the only ones, typically forced into it. But it didn’t really matter to Tao.

Exhaustion consumed him, and Tao allowed his body to flop on the bed, curling up into the soft blanket on it. In no time he was out cold, his mind overtaken by peaceful dreams.


	2. Chapter 2

Tao awoke at 6am exactly, his internal clock not allowing him to sleep in. It was a good thing now however, giving him plenty of time to go around the house and figuring out what was where and what needed to be done. He got up and made his way downstairs, figuring the upstairs would be mostly bedrooms and he didn’t want to risk causing more problems by waking up anyone.

To his surprise, he found more rooms than expected on the lower level. Besides the basics of a kitchen, dining room, living room and laundry, He found a medbay, an office, a small library, a room that looked like the living room but had a large tv and gaming equipment, a large pantry, and other various, small rooms with little in them. The biggest surprise had to be when he found a set of stairs going down to the basement level and revealing a pool.The pool room looked so clean, modern, and bright compared to the rest of the house. Already, Tao began to question how in the world he would be doing any pool upkeep.

Making his way back to the kitchen, Tao started going through the cupboards, cringing at the disorganized mess they were. Everything seemed to stuffed randomly into places, the dishware being found in multiple places, mixed and underneath piles of instant foods. This wouldn’t do at all. Instantly Tao got to work organizing the whole place, writing down the locations of things on a piece of paper incase anyone came in and was confused. The two fridges and freezer had the same story, both utterly disorganized and gross. It took a few hours to make everything organized and clean, a feat he couldn’t help but be proud of. 

Next, he got to cooking, using what he had found to make to reheatable meals for the other residents and making sure to label them. While doing so he got to baking, making some banana bread and muffins. He had no idea what the people would eat, but he hoped at least something in the wide arsonal would appease one of them. His cooking wasn’t the best, but he knew it would be better than the instant crap lying around.

Soon as the smell of the bread made it rounds in the house, a new face made its way into the kitchen. Quickly the new face snatched one of the muffins, taking a seat at one of the chairs seated around the island. Intense brown eyes bore into Tao, making him shift uncomfortably as he set out the bread as well. Even sitting, Tao could tell the new male was short, with short havana brown hair, round face and very cat like eyes, wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, not bothering to hide his extra features. A set of matching brown , fluffy cat ears sat nestled in his hair, twitching occasionally when Tao allowed his eyes to wander on him. A matching tail coiled around his stomach, his hand not containing a muffin running his fingers along it. 

“Good morning.” Tao tried, giving a small smile and nod towards the male, before putting the next batch of bread in the oven. “Would you like me to make you anything?”

“Normally I wouldn’t accept anything from an outsider. But since I’m starving right now, I’ll make an exception and allow you to cook me up some chicken.” The cat said, lacking the mockery Tao had been expecting. Tao winced at the word outsider, but he turned and got to work nonetheless, getting out the chicken he had found earlier and getting to work. 

The sounds of plastic hitting on the floor behind him made Tao whip around, only to see the male knocked a cup on to the floor, Looking at Tao expectantly. Once he saw he had Tao’s attention once again, he pulled his hand back.

“I’m Xiumin” he stated, his eyes once again staring at Tao as if he was searching his soul. One of his witchy senses told Tao that the other was lying, Xiumin wasn’t his name, not even a nickname. It wasn't a big lie, but it still made Tao a bit sad.

“Hello Xiumin, I’m Tao.” He responded, turning back around to make the food. The moment his back was turned Xiumin hissed, and Tao felt something small connect with his back.. It didn’t hurt, but it was hard enough to annoy him. Quickly he dumped the chicken in a pot and whipped around to face the cat. Once again, as soon as he looked, the other pulled his hand back. It was starting to make sense now.

Xiumin was the type of cat who liked all the attention to be on himself. Tao figured it would be best to indulge him.

“Is there anything else I can do for you?” Tao asked, picking up the cups that had tossed without turning away from him. He noted not to leave any cups laying around ever again. 

“No no, I’m fine with just the food.” Xiumin stated casually, hand hovering near the last cup, as if he was waiting for Tao to turn his back again. As if he was testing Tao, seeing which option he would take. Tao needed to check on the food,he could smell it on the verge of burning, but the last cup was glass. A fairly nice, large glass coffee mug. 

Choices.

Tao turned to take the chicken from the stove, and not a moment later the sound of shattering glass echoed through the entire kitchen. 

Quickly Tao pulled plated the food before putting it in front of the demanding cat.

The floor was littered with small shards of translucent deep blue glass. The sight felt oddly familiar, reminding Tao of a few months ago, back at the apartment. He had accidentally left the stool in the wrong spot in the kitchen, resulting in his younger brother running into it and releasing the glass from his hands. Dejun had panicked, almost cried, as he stood in the spot, unsure of where to step since he couldn’t see. He had to wait until Tao had swept up the mess, both too paranoid of the younger accident hurting himself. 

The pieces had been quiet pretty on there old looking floor, seeming to sparkle it the low lighting of the Kitchen. Tao had made sure to keep the pieces in a bag for later, in case there sister could fix it. They couldn’t really afford new dishware, and their sister was very good with magic. Not anything special, as they all three would get to hear time and time again, but she was far better then the two boys. 

After Dejun was out of the way and back to the safety of the bedroom, Tao made rounds around the small space in order to make sure nothing else was out of place. He felt guilty as in, and wanted to make sure his brother didn’t run into anything else. 

“Clean it up.” Xiumin voice broke through Tao’s memories, erasing the face of Dejun getting rid of the soft smile that had been on his brothers face afterwards when he had joined him in there room. 

“You broke it” Tao countered, frowning at the mess. This time he didn’t need to worry, the cat could easily move wherever he wanted without even going near the mess. And Xuimin should be the one to clean it up, Tao had only made food like the other had asked.

“Your job is to clean up whatever mess I make, so you will clean it up.” The cat leaned forward, reaching out and grabbing Taos face, holding it in place. One wrong move and claws could be digging into his skin.

So much for accountability for one's own actions. 

“I’ll clean it.” 

With that the fingers left his face and the cat left with his plate of food. Xuimin didn’t even bother to say thank you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I don't have this story completed yet, I do have 25 pages already written out, so i can hopefully update more often then not. Overall, this will get pretty long if i end up including everything in my notes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tao's torment hours kick into high gear this chapter so be warned. Make sure to check the tags and make sure you are comfortable reading such topics. If any tags needed to be added, let me know.

The rest of the first month was a living hell.

It started when Tao noticed a large amount of damage done to the house internally. Walls that had holes and dents that matched body parts, broken furniture no one bothered to fix or set aside. House plants would be founds knocked over on any given day, Tao questioning the point of having them if nobody seemed to care about them. Clothes could be found scattered everywhere; laying on the couch, the floor, hanging off lamps, on the kitchen counter, left in the sink, anywhere you went, there would be a piece hanging out. No matter how many times Tao collected all the pieces, washed them, and left them neatly folded in the living room for the owners to claim them, more pieces would appear. 

At first Tao had thought they were simply a rowdy bunch who were a bit messy, but Tao should have known better.

While sweeping up a mysterious dirt trail in the entryway, Tao noticed something moving quickly in the corner of his vision. He barely looked up in time to witness a form quickly dump their laundry basket over the railing and onto the floor, right on the dirt trail, before scurrying away.

This annoyed Tao. He hand made it very clear to everyone with his notes he left around that if anyone needed their clothes washed, they just had to leave there basket in the hallway and he would do it for them. Or they could even just leave them in the bathroom and he would collect them himself. 

Perhaps the residents didn’t know how to read.

His woes only got worse when it came to cleaning the pool room. Thankfully, it seemed the itself pool had some automated self cleaning system, so he didn’t even have to go near the water. He would simply pick up the mess of towels and other random objects, careful to avoid the water. Someone clearly spent a lot of time down there, Tao often finding plates of half eaten food, random clothing, even blankets soaked in water often stacked in the corner. 

As Tao made his last go around, making sure everything looked alright, something pushed him harshly towards the pools edge. Alarm bells went off in hiss head, his mouth opened to shout as he tried to push back. But whomever was pushing him had the element of surprise on their side combined with speed.

A scream left Tao’s throat as cold water surrounded him.He was slow to react, to terrified of being in the water as him simply sank down. His brain snapped to life, started failing wildly, kicking his feet at random, just trying to get above the water. In all his years, he had never learned how to swim, and water scared him. So many things could go wrong, people had gone missing in the water. After much effort to fight the heavy weight of his soaked clothing from drowning him, Tao managed to breach the surface of the water, sputtering and trying to rid his lung of the water he had accidentally inhaled. 

He clung to the pools edge desperately needing to wait for his energy to come back before he would be able to pull himself out. 

His eyes traveled around the room looking for the culprit. His entire body shook as he struggled to breath, still feeling a burn in his throat as if there was water in his lungs. His eyes fell upon a male he had only seen briefly hanging around Xiumin, a guy who often liked to whine loudly when he spoke to the other. While Xiumin had very cat like eyes, the guy had a very cat like mouth. But he wasn’t a cat, Tao knew that much at least.

Cats didn’t like water.

The two stared at each other for a while, an amused expression on the others face at the sight of Tao clinging for dear life to the pools edge. 

“You react worse the Minseok.” was all the other said, before just leaving Tao there.

Who in the hell was Minseok?

A few days later Tao got to experience a new type of encounter. It started when a vampire he didn’t recognize stopped Tao as he was folding laundry in the early morning.

“Im hungry.” Tao looked up to see the unfamiliar male looking at him expectantly. He was rather short, with very short black hair and intense round eyes. If the other were to try, he would come off as very intimidating. But for now, Tao felt no fear towards the other.

“There are blood packs in the fridge, normal food as well.” Tao answered, not sure how to react. He went back to fold what was in his hand. He needed to get this done as quickly as possible, someone had decided the living room would be the perfect place to rough house, resulting in the coffee table being broken in half. He hadn’t seen nor heard who had broken it, and he doubted anyone would fess up.

“I want fresh blood, now.” the other demanded, stepping forward and shutting the door to the laundry room. The soft click of the door locking followed. The action instantly alarmed Tao enough to stop what he was doing, eyes darting back up.

But he wasn’t fast enough.

The other was upon him before Tao had time to move. At first he tried to fight back, to push the other away, but the struggle only caused more pain. The guy was a vampire, vampires were naturally stronger, so it wasn’t like he could do much. He couldn’t think of any spells, and wouldn’t have been able to even cast any in the short amount of time it took.

So he simply stood there, accepting his fate. 

As time passed, Tao would him find himself cornered every few days by either him or the vampire from the first night. Tao hated how it felt to have fangs in his flesh, how the experience left him feeling weak and groggy, but the other two couldn't care less. Often time afterwards when Tao would go try to find something to eat in the fridge to make himself feel better, he would find blood packs missing anyway. 

His worst advisory would be realized on a cold afternoon as Tao was fixing a broken leg on the main dining table with his magic since he didn’t know shit about wood work. Once again, a male Tao vaguely recognized from brief passing walked into the dinning room, stopping only when he noticed Tao on the floor fixing the table. The male was very tall and lanky, with light blonde hair, a sharp jaw and deep brown eyes. Something about him screamed that he was awkward and young, just like Tao. But Tao opted to ignore the other and instead continue his work. 

The male stood there watching Tao work silently, seemingly fascinated by Tao’s small hand movements and muttering as he attempted to find the right spell to not only hold the table leg together, but fill in the missing pieces and make it a bit longer to match the other legs. The others watchful gaze didn’t bother Tao as much as he thought it would, it felt more like a child curiously watching an adult do something.They stayed like that for a while, until Tao finally managed to get the leg to stay stuck together. 

“What is he doing in here Sehun?” A low voice asked from the doorway, completely filled with venom. Tao looked up to see a male who upon first glance looked similar as to whom Tao could assume was the one named Sehun. The biggest difference being the other having the worst case of resting bitch face Tao had ever seen. But the more you looked at the male, the less alike the two looked. If they were related, the would have to be distant cousins. Maybe from the same pack.

The same pack…

Tao shot up, almost banging his head on the table in the process. Packmates. Packmates meant wolves. The wolf from the first night that had attacked him. Clearly it hadn’t been Sehun, Sehun didn’t really have the vibe of that wolf. Besides, if it had been Sehun, why would he have just stood there and watched Tao. It would have been the perfect time to attack him again, Tao was under a freaking table.

The voice from the other male closely matched that of the wolf from the first night, especially with the amount of anger it held. 

“He was here first, fixing the table Yeol broke when he ran into it last month.” Sehun said, looking at the other male. That was a surprising amount of unrelated information, but useful. So the table had broken for an entire month, yet nobody had thought to do anything about it? They hadn’t even pointed it out to Tao, he had to find out himself. What about the previous caretaker? Or them? Did these people really have no self preservation skills other than to attack people?

“Leave, we are using this room.” The male demanded, glaring at Tao. 

“Kris, he was here first.” Sehun pointed out again. Tao didn’t move. He wanted to get out while he could get away from the male named Kris. But the younger male didn’t seem to happy about making Tao leave in the middle of his work. 

“I don’t care if he was here first.” Kris growled, causing the other wolf to flitch. “Get out.”

Tao didn’t need to be told again, he bolted out of the room as fast as he could. He could easily find something else to do, preferable on the completely opposite side of the house. 

That encounter wouldn’t be the last. Every time Kris would enter a room Tao was in, he would demand for him to leave no matter what Tao was doing. One time while he was in the middle of cooking, Tao tried to explain that he couldn’t and the other and decided to throw a chair at Tao. He managed to avoid it as he scurried away, praying the food wouldn’t be ruined. The habit of tossing objects at Tao now joined Kris’s demands every time, even when Tao would instantly head for an exit upon sight of seeing Kris. 

And Tao wasn’t able to dodge every time.

Exhaustion consumed Tao, each day ending with him collapsing on his bed late into the night, only to all repeat once again the next day as soon as his watch read six.

Laying in his bed, Tao could no longer stop his mind from wandering. For the first time in a long time he felt alone, isolated. He couldn’t stop the tears spilling, silent sobs escaping him. He wanted to leave, go home, go back to his shitty mattress in the old dingy apartment and curl up against his siblings. They would talk to him, tell him the sweet lie that everything would be okay. Then they could send him back and Tao could at least tolerate the others.

But they were gone, and nothing he said or did would fix that.

Without even realizing it hours had already passed, and once more it was six am, and time for Tao to start another painful day. He quickly got up, quickly washed himself up the best he could in the small bathroom they had allowed him to use, Kris claiming he could only use that one since ‘they didn’t need his scent stinking up unnecessary places.” Tao did as he was told to avoid any new markings. Today he felt extra horrible, exhausted, and a bit nauseous. As much as he wanted to go back to bed and sleep the day away, he knew the others wouldn’t allow it. The one time he had slept in until 7, Xiumin had decided to kick in his door.

Making his way downstairs to start breakfast, He was promptly stopped on the bottom step by the Vampire from the first night, Luhan. The only reason Tao knew his name was due to the fact Luhan would occasionally be in the same room as Kris and Sehun, and Sehun had said his name. One thing that had interested Tao about this house was the fact it seemed as if people stuck to small groups, and the groups didn't interact with each other much.

Tao groaned, trying to step around the creature, but the other didn’t budge. 

“Luhan, I’m feeling sick. I can’t do this today.”

“Your job is to feed me, it doesn’t matter how you feel.” The vampire snatched Tao wrist, yanking him forward. There two body’s collided and before Tao could further protest Luhan had his fang in Tao’s neck. The taller male tried to pull away, tears spilling from his eyes as the flesh on his neck burned, but the vampire forced him to stand there. 

It didn’t take long for Tao to feel dizzy, and his vision began to blur. He tried to say stop, but his mouth wouldn’t open. He lightly pushed against the other, but it was no use. He was too tired, too weak to even try even stand in the others grip as his body went limp.

Everything went black.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First I'd like to say this was the first major part I had planned out/envisioned when I started planning this fic out.  
Next, I'd like to apologize for what happens.  


When Tao could see again, the first thing he noticed was the hard floor he was laying on was not the same place he had lost consciousness. The second thing he noticed was the pulsating headache forming in his head. Glancing around briefly, he recognized the space he was in as one of the small, unused rooms on the first floor. It had nothing but an empty shelf in it and a small window letting in only a sliver of light.

His body still felt sluggish and tired, the feeling of nausea still filling the back of his throat. His neck still hurt where the bite had taken place, but it had withered down to a dull burn. At this point he wouldn’t have been surprised if he was getting sick, and a small part of him hoped the vampire would get sick from his blood. But he doubted it worked like that.

Slowly, Tao got up, sparing a glance out the window. Outside looked inviting right now, even with how cold it was getting. He could go outside for the day and find some soft patch of grass to sleep on. Just getting away from everyone and everything, getting a chance at fresh air might do him some good. From what he had observed, only the wolves went out, and it was doubtful either of them would go out of there way to find him. 

Fuck, Tao doubted any of them would bother looking for him, They would assume he left for good. The joke was on them in the end, Tao couldn’t leave. 

Before Tao could change his mind and back out of his plan, he quickly made his way to the front door and outside before anyone could spot him and demand something else. If Tao didn’t go to sleep in the next hour he would die. Normally he would just chalk his thoughts up to be over dramatic and continue as normal. But something inside of him was warning him it was no joke, not to mention the alarming fact his body wasn’t using his spare magic to auto heal him. Even when he tried to give it a little push, it refused to do anything.

A good half hour was spent wandering the trees looking for a softer spot on the ground. He enjoyed the fresh air, the coolness on his skin soothing him bit. It probably wasn’t going to do much for his health overall, but as long as he felt better in the moment, should he really be worrying about it?

Actually yes, Tao wasn’t healing so that was a big warning to stay away from any more harm for his body.

But Tao was also called a stubborn fool by those who knew him. 

Tao finally found a spot that would work. No grass could be seen but a small pile of leaves had gathered under one of the trees. It only took a little bit of effort from Tao’s end the pile to become more usable, something that could possibly keep him slightly warm. Once he was comfortable as he could get on the cold ground, Tao allowed himself to close his eyes. But before he could fall asleep, a sound made his eyes shot open.

The sound of sobbing could be heard only a small distance away. 

Instinctively Tao wanted to go to the person and comfort them, even though Tao himself could really use some comfort himself. There was no one for him, but that didn’t mean Tao couldn’t still offer something to others in distress. Even with all the others not so good behaviour, he didn’t hate them. He understood how he was a stranger coming into their home, Tao wouldn’t have liked that either. Then again, Tao wouldn’t have gone out of his way to antagonize anyone either, but he couldn’t expect everyone to think like him. 

Despite all the pain and tiredness in his body, he forced himself up and towards the noise. It didn’t take long for him to find the source hiding behind a tree. 

Sehun sat curled up against the tree, crying into the sleeve of his flannel. Tao knew the other could sense his presence, but Sehun did nothing to make Tao feel as if he should go. The wolf didn’t even bother looking up as Tao carefully sat in front of him. He could tell the wolf was struggling, trying to calm himself down, but from personal experience Tao knew it was hard to do so by yourself.

“Sehun, would you like me to help you?” Tao asked. He made no attempts at touching the other or getting closer. Getting in the young wolf’s space without permission could easily go bad real quick. There was no way to predict how an upset wolf would react.

“I know it hard Sehun, but can you try breathing with me?” Tao asked quietly, gently tapping his hand on the other foot. “It will help you, I promise.” 

Sehun looked up at him, his breathing ragged and uneven. His whole body shook as he stared at Tao with pleading eyes. Slowly he nodded his head and Tao allowed a small smile onto his face. Tao rarely had the chance to even see Sehun, but he wasn’t one of the beings he had to worry about. And looking at him now, Tao could guess the other was even younger than himself, which made Tao want to help him even more.

Using all the knowledge he had collected from the countless time his brother and sister had needed calm him down, Tao carefully walked Sehun through some basic breathing exercises. All the while Tao kept his hand on the other’s shoe as a form of comfort, yet not overstepping boundaries by actually touching him. It took a great amount of time, but Tao managed to get Sehun to a more controlled breath pattern and his body to stop shaking. He still looked miserable sitting there, but small steps had been made. 

“Do you feel a little bit better now?” Tao asked, pulling his hand away. Sehun instantly nodded his head. Slowly, the younger began to uncurl himself and sit up against the tree properly. The tears were still there, but no were not even close to as bad as before.

“Do you want to talk about it? You don’t have to, but I’m all ears if you need me.” Tao offered. He knew it wasn’t much, he had little information on most of the residents of the house. But if Sehun had to go all the way out here to cry, there was a chance he wasn’t close to the others either. Or maybe he was so close to them he wouldn’t feel comfortable talking about whatever was bothering him to them. Either way, Tao figured it would be better to offer.

Sehun stared at him, studying Tao the same way all the others had done. But for the first time, Tao felt no hostility in the look. It was as if the other was simply look for what to say to Tao, not looking for something from Tao to tear apart, not an object of their amusement. An innocent look, one of curiosity over judgement. After what felt like an eternity of being stared at, Sehun seemed to have found what he was looking for.

“I don’t know how to explain it.” Sehun said frowning, his hand mindlessly picking at the grass beneath them. Tao nodded his head, understanding that emotions could be difficult to deal with. He himself had cried over a picture of a snake in a sweater once. It had just been so darn cute he had ended up bawling his eyes out, and then it had just been a swirling storm of emotions after that. 

“Take your time. We have time.” Tao encouraged. Sehun huffed, ripping out the grass more.

“I just-” Sehun started, before cutting himself off. His eyes widened in horror and he jolted forward towards Tao unexpectedly shouting.

“DON’T.”

It was too late.  
Tao was always too late.

Blood splattered all over Sehun as pain shot through Tao’s neck. He felt himself being ripped backwards painfully hard. Claws dug into his skin, dragging him back until he was thrown against a tree. Sehun was shouting, and Tao vaguely heard the name Kris as his mind began to muddy once more. The pain from the morning now felt like a pinprick compared to this. The sheer force of being thrown must have broken something because, god did he hurt where there wasn’t blood spilling from him.

He was screaming, but his voice was quick to cut out, The sounds only came out as scratchy gurgling. Breathing became painfully difficult, and it hurt, god did it hurt. It burned, it stung, it felt like he was being stabbed over and over again. 

He needed to think inorder to stay alive, but he could barely force himself to breathe. How did he do it normally? How had it been so easy before? 

The whole thing must of been a trap.

Of course, how could have Tao been so stupid. He knew they wanted to get rid of him, and of course they couldn’t do it in the house where there would be evidence. Clean up would be easier outside. The area was large and isolated, it would be doubtful anyone would find a missing body. If there was one thing that wolves were good at, it was hiding the body.

There wouldn’t be anyone really caring enough to go out looking for him anyway.

Maybe this was for the better.

It made sense why they all were couped up in the house together away from the rest of the world and meant to be looked after, they were monsters. No just in species, but in their actions. Witches were too human. Tao was too human to ever be accepted into their world. 

It hurt so much, tears streaming down his face once more. He couldn't even move, only feel as the blood continue to trickle from his neck. Fuck, Kris could have at least finished him off quick instead of leaving him to bleed out. What reason did the wolf have to leave him so suffer like this? The pain was unbearable, but in this state Tao couldn’t even use his magic to help in anyway.

Why did he have to be such a useless witch? If he were strong he wouldn’t be here. If he knew more, his family would still be around. If he would have been smarter, he would have known to stay away from the wolves. Wolves always ruined everything.

Tao was dying, painfully slow, by himself.

Alone.

Not wanted.


	5. Chapter 5

“Why did you do that?!” Sehun screamed, finally freeing himself from Kris’s grip and slipping to the floor of the living room he had been carried into. Before the other wolf even had time to move he attacked, forcing the other to go crashing into the coffee table. Sehun continued to scream as he attempted to strangle Kris, the other struggling to hold him back with a look of utter confusion on his face. It didn’t take long for other house residents to appear in the room, all with similar looks of worry.

Sehun and Kris never fought, Sehun never screamed. 

Clearly something was very wrong.

Luhan instantly grabbed the upset wolf, pulling him off of the older. It was a difficult task, Sehun fully intent on tearing the other apart, Primal rage making his stronger. Once they were separated, Luhan turned Sehun away from Kris, hoping that not seeing the other would calm him down a bit. Luhan attempted to comfort Sehun, but he was met with a harsh shove and a snarl warning him to stay away. 

On the other side of the room, Kris was being held up by both Jongdae and Minseok. Jongdae was humming a soothing tune, trying a different method of calming things down. It was going better with him, Kris halting in his struggle to escape the hands holding him. His face still looked between a mixture of confusion and anger, but they were lucky the much stranger wolf wasn’t trying anything anymore.

“Sehun, What happened?” Junmyeon asked, carefully approaching the youngest. Out of everyone, Luhan was one of the last people Sehun was least expected to snap at. They were closer than most, if Kris’s worries were to be listened to. Junmyeon had been a bit happy to hear Sehun was able to befriend the vampire, it cut away a small portion of the tension in the household. Wolves were known to be overly protective of their own packmates, and not social with strangers; Kris being a prime example. When the two had first shown up, nobody had been allowed to go near Sehun unless Sehun had approached first, with Kris being there to watch carefully. Yet Sehun had ended up being very social. 

So seeing a full fledge fight between the two was a big deal. 

Upon hearing Junmyeon, Sehun moved to the other and hugged him, burying his face in the olders shoulder. It reminded Junymeon of when he had first met Sehun, how the younger had hugged him without warning upon seeing him.

“He tried to kill him.” Sehun said into Junmyeon shoulder. 

“Who did Kris try to kill?” Yixing asked from Junmyeons side, looking worriedly between the two. Not everyone had joined the scene in the living room, so it wouldn't be so simple to pinpoint who exactly Kris had attacked. The male wasn’t exactly known for his friendliness, he constantly rubbed everyone the wrong way. Nobody but Sehun seemed to like him. It didn’t help that Kris never made the effort to be nice either.

“That new brat made Sehun fucking cry, so I threw him around a bit.” Kris said, the confusing melting from his face into an expression that only read anger. 

“He wasn’t the one who made me cry you stupid fuck. Actually, he was helping me not cry until you tore his throat open.” Sehun shot at the other bitterly. 

“What in the hell were you thinking?” Junmyeon practically yelled at the older wolf, who ignored him. With each added line the mood of the room grew more and more chaotic. Luhan shifting on his feet uncomfortably, unsure of what he should be doing to help. Minseok’s grip on Kris had tightened to the point it wouldn’t be surprising if bruises formed. Jongdae was struggling to keep up his humming, having stumbled upon hearing Junmyeon yell. Junmyeon was not one to yell but clearly all normal conventions were out the window at this point. 

“Who made you cry then?” Kris asked, glaring around the room, ready to pounce on whomever name came out. His eyes looked completely wolf like. If he didn’t calm down soon, he would shift and then everything would become an even bigger mess. Luhan away from Kris, not feeling safe by being the only one in the open.

“It doesn't matter who made me cry, you pretty much killed Tao for trying to help me. I get it that you’re a big stupid wolf, but learn to fucking control yourself. I’m so sick of how you treat him.” Sehun spat out. His entire body was shaking as new tears began to coat his cheeks, mixing in with the older ones. The sight was rather heartbreaking, Sehun being the youngest and in such a horrible state. Even Jongdae and Minseok who didn’t really know him felt bad. Seeing a kid cry just felt wrong.

Kris simply growled low in his throat, giving no response to Sehun. 

“I fucking hate you.” Sehun added, before storming off and up the stairs. His door slamming shut echoed through the entire house. 

Those words made Kris seem to come back to the reality real quick, as he tried to break free from Minseok and Jongdae’s grip again and go after the other, apologies on the tip of his tongue. But they held him back, not wanting to make things even worse than they already were.

From the sounds of it, Kris had actually killed the caretaker. That would draw attention from outside forces, and attention was the last thing they needed right now. With how new the group was, attention only brought bad things. Something Junmyeon and Yixing had repeated over and over not to do. Not drawing attention from the outside world had pretty much been the only rule of the house. The only other one really being not to kill each other. Clearly that hadn’t worked out too well either.

“I didn’t interfere with your guys do your little games because I figured you were responsible adults and would know when to pull back, but clearly I misjudged you.” Junmyeon stated, his tone cold and harsh. A few of the guys shifted uncomfortably under his gaze as he looked at the men who had been the most problematic over the last month. Sure, Junmyeon wasn’t comfortable having a caretaker as well, but it was a necessary thing. They had little survival skills, knew little about the workings of the world, and couldn’t take care of themselves. Even there younger caretaker knew more about the world then them, and could blend in when going out. Until at least Junmyeon or Yixing felt comfortable going out and braving the world, a caretaker was needed.

Not to mention a witch could protect them from those who didn’t like what they were doing. Those who would be horrified of the living situation, of mixing with other species. Those like Junmyeons own people who had banished him for simply associating with Yixing to much. They hadn’t been particularly cruel, yet it wasn’t hard to imagine how ugly things would have gotten if they had stuck around.

Even moving into a house at the start had quickly turned into a dilemma, the years dragging out over such a small thing. Only a handful of beings knew of the house situation, mostly due to Junmyeons fear of what would happen when the wrong person learned. Society was getting better, but not fast enough. So for now, they needed help. The only help that wouldn’t make them even more villainized. 

Before further scolding could commence, the front door busted open, breaking from the frame and flying into the nearby wall. Jongdae screeched in surprise at the sound, letting go of Kris. The entire first floors lights went out, only leaving what little natural light trickling in from the outside to illuminate the room. It didn’t take long for the stench of blood to fill the space as a figure stumbled its way through the door frame. Luhan had to pull his sleeve over his face inorder to control himself.

It was the new caretaker looking on the brink of death. Blood covered him, his body barely being able to stand due to shaking so bad. And his eyes… They were a vibrant purple, his gaze appeared cloudy and unfocused. Junmyeon stepped forward panicked about the others state. Sehun hadn’t been exaggerating at all, The boy was on death's door. 

“Don’t come near me.” The male spat out, instantly stopping Junmyeon in his steps with how cold his voice was. His face was turned towards Junmyeon, but the state of his eyes made it seem as if he didn’t see him at all.

That was unexpected. Sure, the Caretaker had every right to be upset, but towards Kris. Junmyeon (and Yixing in that matter) had made sure to cause no problems for the younger. They remained out of sight and took care of themselves, leaving no reason for the others hostility towards him. This would have been the first time the other male would have seen him. Even with what had happened, They were far enough away from Kris to make it known they didn’t associate with him. 

“You need help, you’ll die if you we just leave you like this.” Junmyeon pointed out, Yixing taking a step forward and nodding his head in agreement. The others kept their distance, a look of absolute horror on their faces other then Kris. Kris’s face was now unreadable. “We can help you.”

The rooms temperature plummeted as the witches eyes shifted red for a brief moment. 

“Don’t pretend to care now, it’s not a good look.” He said, slowly stepping up the stairs. His body swayed with each step, threatening to topple over at any moment. It was unreal how he moved, clearly he shouldn’t even be upright. Junmyeon moved forward again but was stopped when his feet met something slippery and he tumbled to the ground. He looked down to the blood trail on the floor had moved to underneath him. 

“That was your warning.” The caretaker said, vanishing up the stairs to his room.

Yixing helped Junmyeon up, Both looking at each other with uncertainty. They said nothing out loud, but had an unspoken conversation. Both wanted to help, both should have helped long ago. It should have never gotten to this point remotely. And even on the threats of death, Junmyeon didn’t feel comfortable just letting the boy go, but at the same time, letting Yixing go up there and be possible killed also wasn’t the most appealing.

In the end, Yixing won the silent argument, and Junmyeon watched him vanish up the stairs. Out of the Two, Yixing was the better option. Junmyeon knew basic medical, but that was it. Yixing on the other hand could do magic, healing magic being his specialty, which would be far more useful. And he would be able to protect himself better if the younger did indeed attack. 

He stood there listening, waiting for any sound to indicate fighting, but heard nothing. Junmyeon turned his attention back to the others remaining in the living room. The next logical thing to due would be to deal with the situation as much as he could. 

“Luhan, Take Kris to his room and lock him in. Then you are to go into your room as well and not leave. Jongdae,Minsoek, If i even get a hint of you two doing anything out of line, You will be locked in your rooms as well. I don’t care what it is or who it involves. Do I make myself clear?”

The four other men all nodded their heads, no one daring to question Junmyeon. On any other day, Kris would have, but he barely looked aware of his surroundings at this point. His eyes were starting to dull in color. 

Luhan moved over to grab Kris, but the wolf growled at him. The vampire rolled his eyes, used to this kind of behavior. 

Within moments the living room was left empty again, and Junmyeon made an effort to fix the mess that had been made. The blood was the hardest part, but he managed to find a mop and get most of it cleaned up. He wasn’t exactly sure what to do about the door. He opted to just set it back against the frame, push a few things against it to keep it in place. They would have to use the back door until it was fixed.

Making his way upstairs to his own room, Junmyeon was very surprised to find Yixing sitting on his bed, staring down at his own hands. An all too familiar look of exhaustion gracing the others face.

“I couldn’t help him, he put up some sort of barrier that I can’t break through.” Yixing said quietly as Junmyeon sat beside him. Of course nothing could be easy. Junmyeon sighed, leaning against the other. Yixing was there best bet at helping the kid, but even he couldn’t do anything. 

“We’ll just have to talk to him when he comes out then.” Junmyeon said. All they could do was wait, and hope. For what exactly, Junmyeon couldn’t say for certain. But hoping for him not to die seemed like a good place to start.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rewrote parts of this chapter over and over again since It didn't feel right. It okay now i think, but if something seems wrong please do tell me.

By the time Tao regained consciousness he found himself in his room, his bed a mess and the smell of blood surrounding him. He couldn’t remember anything past being outside, in pain, yet somehow he had ended up back in his room, in his bed, in clothes covered in his own blood, feeling oddly fine. He didn’t feel tired, he didn’t hurt anywhere, he just felt disgusted and like he really needed a shower.

Sitting up, he made an attempt at remembering anything. He remembered the tree, his back pushed against it and making the pain worse. Sehun had been yelling. There had been blood, so much of it feeling gross and wet. He remembered not being able to talk, barely being able to breath. He remembered not being able to move, he remembered feeling helpless, alone. Then his vision started to blur, everything fading out and thinking it was the end.

And now he was here, completely okay, albeit very dirty.

He made his way to the bathroom, surprised to not even hear or see the signs of life anywhere in the house. No tv’s, no footsteps, no arguing, nothing. While in the bathroom he avoided the mirror, not wishing to see how dead he looked, not wanting to see what damage had been left. He showered, scrubbing his tanned skin until it turned pink, still feeling as if he wasn’t clean enough. Tao washed himself over and over, scrubbing ever inch he could. Normally he would feel bad about using so much product, but today he couldn’t bring himself to care. Leaving his bloody clothes in there to deal with later, He made his way back to his room. Once again, he saw no signs of life. It was starting to worry him.

Had they all left? Had something gone down while he had been asleep? 

Tao sat on his bed wrapped in a single blanket in an attempt to comfort himself. He needed to go out, get back to cleaning and fixing the house. But his body remained frozen in place; he couldn’t force himself to get up.

Kris could be anywhere out there, waiting. Any one of them could be setting up their next trap. Despite feeling fine, He wasn’t feeling okay enough to deal with any of that.

Even with all his years of ‘training’ for situations such as this, he still couldn’t do it. Even though his sister had come home many a time bloody, blue and barely able to move, she had always been ready in the morning to go back and do it all over again. It never seemed to faze her, never once complaining or threatening to not go in. Yet here Tao was physically fine, too terrified to even leave his room. 

He felt pathetic. He had heard countless horror stories about witches having to deal with much worse, yet he was out of the running so easily. Tao was still alive, he still had all his limbs, his senses, Still had a bed to sleep on and his own space, yet he dared not go back to working.

Any moment now one of them would be pounding on his door, demanding something from him. And he wouldn’t be able to do what they asked. Then the punishments would come, or maybe it would just been pain from breaking the contract.

As if on cue, someone lightly knocked on Tao’s bedroom.

Wait.

Nobody ever knocked. They only pounded on it, or straight up barged in with little regard to Tao’s feelings. He sat there confused, staring at the door. Naturally he wanted to get up to answer it, to see what was needed of him. But Risking his life again didn’t seem like the best idea so soon.

The knocks came again, no louder, no harder, nothing about them seeming urgent or demanding. 

Slowly Tao got up, Keeping the blanket wrapped around him. Fear coursed through him, but he figured the knocking wouldn’t stop until he answered the door. The blanket wouldn’t do much to protect him, But Tao should be fine in his room. There was an amazingly high level protection ward surrounding his room, one Tao definitely wouldn’t have been able to set up. 

Once Tao opened the door, he came face to face with someone he had never seen before. A guy who was smiling softly, showing off his dimples. It surprised Tao, the other held little energy that felt negative, at least not towards Tao. And something about him felt familiar, almost comforting, but it was mixing with something else that dulled the feeling down to a mere whisper. 

Tao simply stared at the other, not daring to initiate conversation. Speaking only when spoken to was the safest bet at this point, and an unwritten rule of being a witch. A rule Tao had chosen to ignore. A mistake, he now would admit. 

“Hello Tao, I’m Yixing. We would like to speak with you if that’s alright.” The male before him began, picking up that Tao wasn’t going to start things. Tao looked into the hall nervously, wonder who in the world this “We” was, and if he really should be talking to someone he had never seen before after recent events. Things seemed fine now, but they had seemed to be going fine with Sehun too. 

As if the other read his mind, he continued. 

“Junmyeon, my partner, is who would be joining the conversation. Well, we would be going to him, he didn't want to overwhelm you by taking over your space. We don’t usually come out much, hence why you haven’t seen us. As for the others, they have been locked in there rooms until we figure things out. Except for Chanyeol, since he hasn’t done anything. But he won’t wander around until we have had a chance to talk.” 

From the way Yixing spoke, Tao couldn’t help but believe him. He was giving a lot of information, none of it feeling like a lie. And the familiar feeling the man was giving did help a bit. He had no idea who this Chanyeol was, but seeing as Tao managed to miss Yixing and Junmyeon, it wasn’t a stretch to think there were others he didn’t know about. Others who didn’t seem to be intent on tormenting him. But Tao wasn’t going to trust them just like that either. There was no way they knew nothing of what happened.

Tao remained silent, not sure what to answer. His room was safe for the time being, he really didn’t want to leave it. But it was tiny, having three grown men in it wasn’t the best idea. It was his space, his only safe space, he really didn’t feel like sharing it at this point. But talking to somebody, anyone about what was happening was important. He really hoped he didn’t regret this decision. 

“Okay.” Tao said, clutching his blanket. “Lead the way.”

They ended up in a much larger bedroom only a feet steps away from his own. Large enough to have a massive bed with a beautiful canopy, multiple dressers, a desk, and a sitting area had a small table between two couches facing each other. Something stood out in the far corner taking up more space then the giant bed. What appeared to be a hot tub that had been converted into a small pond took up the space. The normal plastic outside was now covered in wood that had an edge one could sit on. The water was heavily decorated with plants and rocks, looking very beautiful, yet strange for being in a bedroom.

A few windows on the far wall allowed plenty of natural light into the room and bounce off the water. Now windows were something Tao now wished of his own room. The room was far nicer than anything Tao had expected to find in the old house. Then again, Tao hadn’t gotten the chance to see anyone else's rooms. For all he knew, they could all be like this, and Tao had lucked out with the old broom closet. 

Upon entering the room, the male who must have been Junmyeon looked up from his spot on one of the couches, a look of relief washing over his face. Whether it was due to Yixing or Tao, he couldn't be sure. 

“Please, sit down.” Junmyeon said, waving his hand at the other couch. So Tao sat, Rather awkwardly, looking around the room, looking anywhere except at the two men now sitting before him. On the small table between them sat a three tea cups, a teapot, and a package of crackers. 

Without asking, Yixing started to pour out the tea as Junmyeon fidgeted beside him. It didn’t take much for Tao to pick up the feeling of Junmyeon’s power. He radiated energy, carefully restrained energy that Tao could only guess was being subdued by him being in Human form. If Tao had to guess, this guy would have t be the one in charge of everything. It would be very smart for him not to upset this man. 

“I’m sorry we couldn’t offer you anything more to eat. Nobody around here really knows how to cook and we quickly went through what you had made.” Junmyeon said pushing the package of crackers towards Tao. The gesture was awkward, as if a child was showing an assignment they had scored poorly on to their parents. Tao looked at the other confused.

“I made enough food for a week at least, not including what I froze.” Tao said. How much had they managed to eat in the short time he was out? 

The two males before him glanced at each other, before Yixing spoke up.

“You haven’t left your room in ten days.”

Tao felt himself tense up, a wave of panic washing over him. His grip tightened on the edge of his blanket. Ten days? He had been out for ten days? That wasn’t possible. His body should have failed, starved to death if not bled out. His body could not longer self heal as of that day, there was no way, even with him being a witch, that it couldn have healed itself that much without heavy interference. Tao may have been a witch, but his magic abilities were on the lowest end of the spectrum. 

“Did you do something?” Tao asked carefully, looking between the two of them. He had no idea what they were, so there was a small chance one of them could have healed him. Junmyeon was the better bet. Tao knew there was no way the wolves, the vamps, the cat, nor whatever the hell the guy who hung out at the pool was could have healed him. They didn’t have the proper abilities. 

Yixing shook his head. “I tried to go check on you, but your ward was far to strong. And from the look on your face, you seem to not know anything about that either.” 

Tao felt a sudden need to stop going down that road, to stop digging for answers. Something inside him ached, warning him of the pain that would come if they went further. If they tried to figure out where the protection was coming from,it wouldn’t be good. A voice in the back of his mind whisper it wasn’t time yet.

So he shifted course, asking something else.

“Why am I here if you guys don't want me?" Tao asked, staring at Junmyeon in particular. The older male began fidgeting with the cup in his hands, glancing at Yixing. For possibly being the most powerful being in the house, Junmyeon sure seemed nervous around Tao. As if he were scared. 

“Well, as you may have noticed, most of the people here have little experience in taking care of themselves. An acquaintance told us a witch would be a good option for filling in the gaps. Due to the arrangement of our group, we don't have many options for getting help, and we need to make sure others don't know about us.” Junmyeon answered. "Witches contracts are good for that."

“The whole situation isn’t ideal, but we are desperate at this point. Nobody will stay." Yixing added.

Tao stared at them once again, frowning. The information came as no surprise, he hadn't really expected a more joyful answer. Although the request was a bit different, it boiled down to the same thing: They didn't know how to deal with their problems so they dragged someone else in to deal with them. Someone who couldn’t say no or bargain.

“And that's the reason they torment me? Because nothing will come of it since I can't tell anyone? Because I don't have anyone to tell? Because they can’t trust me" 

Junmyeon eyes went wide and he quickly shook his head. “Most of the people here came from tough situations and are bad at dealing with people they don't trust. They aren't aware of much that is going around here, most refusing to inform themselves. They do not know you can't speak of what happens here." 

"We do not approve of any of the bullying you have dealt with. We understand how they are feeling, but that is not a valid reason for the actions they took." Yixing quickly pointed out. 

"As for why none of us trust you…" Junmyeon began slowly, looking at Tao. “Every time we get a new caretaker, the house owner sends a paper with some information.”

Tao opened his mouth to ask, but Junmyeon cut him off. “ Before you ask, I run this place, but I don’t own it since I don’t have any human identification. Legally, this place belongs to someone else. And he sends us witches.”

“Continuing on from what I was going for, You don’t match the information sent to us, you are very clearly someone else. It comes off rather suspicious, and we can’t help but be worried even with all the precautions.” 

Tao gulped uncomfortably, shifting in his seat. Of course they would end up here. He really didn't want to go back to that conversation, he didn’t want to remember the reason he had to come instead. It was painful, something he had worked so hard on pushing out. It would be too much to deal with so soon, he wasn’t ready for it. But the two before him were looking at him so expectantly, waiting for him to answer to the unsaid question. 

“Irene was my sister. The woman you would have gotten papers about.” Tao said quietly, looking at the floor like it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen. It was pretty old and worn compared to the rest of the room, a weird pleasing burnt orange colored carpet. 

“Was?” Tao wasn’t sure who asked, but it didn’t really matter. 

“Irene died three days before I came here.”


	7. Chapter 7

It had been like any other day those last few months, waking up alone in bed at an ungodly early hour. Tao had felt very warm compared to usual, only to realize that both blankets were wrapped tightly around him. Looking at the clock, he realized it may still be early, but it was late enough that his sister would have left for work already. He sat up, shifting out of the blankets to the cooler air of the room. Their apartment didn’t have the best insulation or heating system, so the temperature would often be heavy leaning one way or the other at any given time. You would always be to warm or cool, and Tao always preferred to be colder. 

As he shuffled his way out of his room, he noticed light coming from the small living area/entrance and made his way towards it. 

To his surprise, he found his sister sprawled out on the small couch, arm over her face. A small pile of books was within reach on the floor, a few open to random pages. They had never had a tv, computer, or anything electronic, so the main source of entertainment for that family had always been book, most of the either given to them for free or checked out from the library. Heck, they didn’t even own a landline, Irene only own and ancient flip phone purely for work. When there was an emergency and Tao needed to call her, he had to go down to the main office and ask to borrow there phone. 

Everywhere you looked in the small apartment you could find books. All the shelving in the entire space had books, even the small one in the bathroom. There were even some stuffed in the cupboards in the kitchen since they didn’t own much food. Currently, there was a particularly large stack of books under the table that had been Dejun’s, all the books being in braille.

But he wasn’t here to read them anymore.

“Why aren’t you at work?” Tao asked, sitting on the stool beside the small table they used for eating. His tone held no accusations, he would never be upset to have his sister home more. Working was draining, she needed all the rest she could get. It was rare for her to not have to be out from dawn until dusk, so Tao couldn’t help but feel concerned. Skipping was out of the question, the wolves would go crazy and hunt her down if she were gone to long.

She removed her arm from her face, revealing her eyes. Her normally brown irises were glowing purple, the color they turned when she was using magic. Most witches eye color shifted when they were doing magic in large amounts. Each had their own beautiful vibrant color that would show. Dejun had a very beautiful glowing jade green color when he used magic, his uniquely taking over his entire eye instead of just the iris. Tao didn’t know his own color, never being able to magic is a high enough amount for his sister to be able to tell him what it is. 

Judging by the hazy look in Irenes eyes and how she wasn’t really doing much other than laying down, Tao guess the color was for a different reason. 

Irene could see things, visions that others could not occasionally. Obscure, vague, little to no detail or meaning, but she seemed to understand them somewhat. Which was ironic, considering Dejun had been blind, only about to perceive light. Tao had normal eyes with good vision, no extra seeing powers included. 

“It’s not time to go out yet, I need to wait.” She said, staring at the discolored ceiling. Water stains that had been there since they moved in, probably from something leaking from the floor above them. 

“What do you need to wait for?” 

She simply hummed in response, sitting up on the couch. Without giving much else, she made her way into the kitchen, quickly returning with a rice bowl and an apple, offering them to Tao.

“I ate dinner last night.” Tao pointed out. Since Irene's work was mostly to pay off debts, the household had barely any money. No money meant no food, so the family would often only eat once a day. She had always tried to give her younger brother bigger portions, but they had always pushed back saying Irene was the one who actually worked and should have more. Irene was the one who would come crawling in at the end of the day looking like death, it wasn’t fair for the boys to take what little they had.

Tao could have started working at age 16, He could have entered a contract even earlier than that. Contracts could be signed as soon as one could write, hence why most witches were servants. Kids were easy to trick like that. But when Tao had turned 16, Irene had insisted it wasn’t his time. They had the same argument again when Tao had turned 17, then 18, then 19, but once again she had shot him down with the same statement time and time again. As much as he loved his sister, it would be rather annoying at times like this when she would say something, but give little other information. Like when Dejun had vanished, while Tao grieved she tried to comfort him by telling him Dejun had went to where he was supposed to be. But what that meant, she refused to explain further. Or rather she didn’t know how to explain.

“Everything is about to change Taozi.” She said smiling wildly and forcing the bowl into his hands. Again, Tao had no idea what she was getting at, but chose to eat instead of asking questions. Maybe later when she didn’t look as if she was looking into a different plane of existence he would ask her what she was going on about. 

She gave him more food, forcing it into his hands each time. It felt so odd, having food in his belly in the morning, he almost felt like he wanted to throw up. But he never got there, Irene seeming to stop force feeding him when he was right on the edge.

The next hour was spent with Irene say variations of the same phrase, that things were going to change, while at the same time she ushered Tao to get changed since he would be going out with her today. To where, she wouldn’t say. Or maybe she didn’t know, seeing as by the time they were heading out the door, her eyes were still bright purple and foggy.

When they made it outside, they were greeted by a light amount of Rain. Neither seemed to care, making their way down the rough sidewalk arm in arm. Irene’s steps started to become uneven the further they want, and her grip tightened on his Tao’s arm. At first he thought it was due to the unkempt road, but as Tao looked at her he realized that wasn't the case. Her far away look was cracking, a grimace forming on her face as her eyes strained to focus on the ground. She appeared to be in pain, and it didn’t take much for Tao to guess why it was coming.

Irene was undoubtedly breaking her contract by not going to work. As much as her current state of mind was telling her to not go, that ‘it wasn’t time’, it had nothing to do with the reality of things. She was skipping according to the magic that bond her to that paper. The pain would only grow worse and worse the more she kept herself from doing what she had signed for.

“Irene, You should go to work.” Tao commented, slowing down his walk speed to accommodate for her.”I don’t want you to suffer like this.”

Irene shook her head, and the conversation was over. If she had been in her normal state Tao would have pushed it, but it was useless to argue with her like this. 

“Zitao.” Irene said softly, Startling Tao a bit. It sounded so out of place to hear it. She never used his real name, even when he was in trouble. The same could be said with Dejun. And Irene wasn’t even his sister's real name. He didn’t know what her name was, but it didn’t bother him too much. Irene was Irene, Irene was his big sister. Nothing else really mattered. 

Irene looked up at Tao’s face, and for a small moment it felt as if she was back, as if she could actually see him. She slipped a hand up, messing with his hair a bit.

Just as quickly she was gone again, her hand falling away. Irene slipped back to seeing things Tao would never get to know. Her complexion grew paler by the moment, she was clearly still affected by the pain. But a small sad smile fought its way on her face. 

“I’m so proud of you.”

Tao stopped walking, completely taken aback by her words. 

She was proud of him?

But Tao hadn’t done anything to gain her praise. Not today, not the day before, not ever. He had always been the mess of a middle child who wasn’t particularly good at anything. He didn’t think too poorly of himself, but there wasn’t anything noteworthy there either. Hearing unearned praise just felt so off. 

If only she had known what would happen later, she probably wouldn’t have said it. Things wouldn’t have hurt so much if she hadn’t said it.

Tao had been so useless, failing only hours later after receiving her praise. If she would have focused on herself, things would have been different. If only he had been better at magic, or had been faster, or smarter. She had already been in so much pain, he should have at least taken her home, Even if he had to carry her. Tao should have seen the signs. 

Irene died in that state, completely separate from the world. Her bloody hand in Tao’s as he failed to heal her, to shaken over the attack that had happened. The glow from her eyes only faded to normal brown after she had taken her last breath. He could feel it in his soul when she was gone, a painful sensation overtaking him. 

The next day the letter arrived with the contract.


	8. Chapter 8

“I’m so sorry for your loss.” Junmyeon’s words were filled with sympathy. “We had no idea about her death, or even you being related.” Yixing and Junmyeon shared a glance.

“It’s fine.” Tao said, looking up at the two before him. It wasn’t fine, he knew that. Nothing was fine. But it such an easy phrase, a good default for any situation. 

Junmyeon looking like he wanted to say something, a pained look on his face. Despite the fact that they barely knew each other, Tao could tell it was genuine. Yixing shared the sad expression, but his seemed more reserved, as if he was thinking of something else. Both of them showing more sadness then Tao felt.

It felt weird.

Tao didn’t feel sad at all at the moment. Anxious, yes, that was something he didn’t think he would ever get over ever, especially now with the recent events. But grief over talking about his sister's death could not really be found. He had cried over her multiple times over the last few days, yet now he felt an odd stillness. It felt wrong, them being more upset them himself. Nothing inside told him to cry, to shake, to sob and ask for comfort. 

“Sehun is very worried about you, and would like to see you as soon as possible. If that’s alright.” Yixing said, taking Junmyeon tea cup from his hands and setting it down on the table. The shorter male had been clutching it so hard with his shaking hands it looked as if it would break in his hand at any moment. 

Sehun, right. He had been a witness to the whole thing. Tao wanted to go check on the other, make sure he was okay since he had been crying back then pretty hard before the thing. Now that his mind had cleared up, he doubted Sehun had wanted any of this to happen. Tao’s memory about the whole ordeal was a bit foggy, but he did remember Sehun screaming for Kris to stop.

Kris.

Even thinking of the other sent a cold chill down Tao’s spine, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. 

“What about Kris?” Tao asked.

“He will be locked up in his room until we find out a proper punishment for him. What he did was not acceptable, and he knows that. If you have any sort of punishment in mind, we will be happy to work with your ideas.” Junmyeon stated rather quickly, yet firmly in his words. His expression had changed from one of sadness, to something on the verge of anger.

Punishments were no stranger to Tao, it was a common occurrence for him to be punished until his sister had gotten them the apparemment. Before that they had to live in a room in the main house, in the thick of the pack. That meant he ran into the wolves frequently, and they would find any reason to get mad at him and seek punishment. Often times it would end with them promising to stop the pain if he signed a contract. But he never did. It wouldn’t be that hard to pick a punishment out, he knew what wolves didn’t like, what hurt them.

But Tao really didn’t want to hurt Kris. It wouldn’t fix anything, only make the other resent him even more. And as traumatized Tao was, as terrified he was of even thinking of running into the other, he felt fine physically. Kris deserved some sort of punishment, but it felt wrong to give one to him. Something in the back of his mind was whispering to him, telling him that there was something else. A voice he couldn’t fully hear, but more like feel, muttering phrases he couldn’t understand, but he was getting some sort of idea of what it was going for. He could simply feel what it wanted, and it wasn’t a bad idea.

Punishment wouldn’t do anything to fix the situation, but something else could help. It could help both of them, and possible anyone else who had problems with the over protective wolf.

“I do have an idea I would like to discuss, and I would like to see Sehun.” 

\-----------------------------------

Tao found himself with the younger male wrapped in his arms, crying quietly into his chest. It felt awkward, both of them being very tall, yet Sehun was trying to sit on him like a child.

Yixing and Junmyeon had excused themselves from their room after Tao had told them his idea. At first they seemed shocked, but they let Tao explain all he wanted without cutting in. Yixing had nodded along after, seeming to like the idea. Tao could swear he saw the wheels turning in his head, already planning on how he would get the idea in motion. Junmyeon hadn’t looked so sure in the end, arguing that Kris needed some sort of real punishment. Reiterating the point that Kris knew it was wrong, yet still did it. It took Yixing backing up Tao and whispering a few things for Junmyeon to back down. But He did make sure to tack on the fact Tao could change his mind, still come up with a punishment when he walked out. 

Moments after the couple had left Sehun had came into the room. Sehun had started crying the moment he had seen Tao, not uttering a single word, simply crawling into his lap. Tao found himself running his fingers through the others hair in an attempt to ease the others tears. 

Already, Tao could feel himself growing extremely protective of the younger. He hated seeing Sehun cry, and he almost understood why Kris had tried to kill him when he saw Sehun's tears. Almost being the key words. Tao still held enough rationally to know to gather information first, plot murder later.

“Sehun. You need to use your words. It’s hard to talk to you if you just cry.” Tao said calmly, continuing to pretty much pet the other. Sehun pulled away and look at Tao face, tears still falling.

“Sometimes I just- cry and I can’t explain why.” Sehun said, wiping his face with his sleeve.

“But that’s not why you are crying now.” Tao pointed out.

“That’s why I was crying outside. And then you- were attacked and almost- killed. It’s all my- fault.” 

“But that wasn’t your fault, you weren’t the one who attacked me.” Tao stated, shifting his blanket off of him. As much as he was enjoying being a burrito, it was starting to get to warm with Sehun being on top of him. Wolves tended to have slightly warmer body temperatures than humans.

Sehun’s eyes widen and he reached out, barely running his fingers over the flesh on Tao’s throat.

“There’s a scar.” He practically whispered, the tears rolling down his cheeks even more. Tao wondered how bad it looked, how big it was, how much it covered his sensitive skin. Skipping looking in the mirror might have been a horrible idea judging by how horrified Sehun looked. Next time he got hurt he would force himself to look. 

“Sehun, I’m still alive. That’s all that matters right now, okay?” 

Tao had no idea where the words came from. Being alive would be the number one priority, yeah. And know knowing there were three people out there, possible four if this Chanyeol was to be trusted, It didn’t feel as such a bad option to be alive.

Sehun nodded slowly, eyes still glued to Tao’s throat. It looked like Tao would need to get his hands on a turtleneck or scarf, leaving his neck exposed would only be a horrific reminder to Sehun of what happened. He didn’t want that, none of this was his fault. All of this was Kris’s fault, Kris was the one who should be feeling guilt. He wished he knew a spell that transferred guilt, that would have been a punishment that might have been useful. But forcing someone to feel guilty was not only wrong, but as stated before, wouldn’t fix anything.

“Let go eat something, okay?”

\-------------------------------------------------

By The time the food was completely demolished by Tao’s and Sehun combined large appetites, Tao had learned quite a bit about Sehun. He can be a bit of a brat but in a lovable way. Sehun had picked off the best bit of meat from Tao’s plate, eating them without a care in the world. Tao should have scolded him, he had been the one to not have food for ten day, he should be the one eating more. But for some reason, he couldn’t find it in himself to push back.

Another thing Tao noticed was when Sehun spoke and wasn't bawling his eyes out, he was very shy and didn’t have the best people skills as predicted. He was also horrible at making eye contact, but that was just a minor thing. Tao was more of the type to stare someone dead in the eyes while talking, he liked seeing people's faces when they talked, reading there expression to see if they matched their words. Sehun matched his movements with his speech.

It was nice.

It was so nice.

Just talking to someone, someone who listened, someone who actually responded was so nice. He had missed it so much, and now he was finally getting someone to talk to. The rest of the day went by far to quick, Sehun following Tao everywhere he went, keeping him company, trying to help when he could. The kid knew absolutely nothing about doing house chores, but from what had gathered from the younger rambles, he had spent most of his life not living in a house. The lack of skills made sense.

The house seemed to be in better shape. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it looked as if people had taken the time to try and clean up after themselves. The only real problem had to be the front door completely detached from the frame. The story behind that, Sehun said he didn’t know, so it would remain a mystery it seemed. The younger was very helpful when it came to fixing it, holding the extremely weighty chunk of wood with ease. Tao even added a tiny window into the door, now making it possible to actually see whoever was at the door despite the fact it seemed no one ever came to visit. 

When it came to bed time, Sehun had insisted Tao sleep with him. Tao of course didn’t want to intrude on the others territory, but Sehun informed him that he preferred sleeping with another person in the room. He even sheepishly admitted he had been sleeping in Junmyeon rooms since the incident, wanting to stay away from Kris. But now he was feeling bad, feeling as if he was cutting into their time and that he should go back to his own room. 

Who was Tao to refuse Sehun?

Entering Sehun’s room, It was much smaller than Junmyeons, But very much larger than Tao’s. The space was neat and clean, everything seeming to have its place. It had nice off white walls decorated with a handful of paintings, and the same burnt orange carpet as the other room. The bed was large, big enough to easily fit two people.

Tao’s eyes were drawn to a particular painting by the door. It was rather large and without a frame, giving a very handmade feeling to it. The painting had to be an original, maybe even a gift. The canvas was mostly black, with the exception of two bright orange moons, one seemingly a reflection of the other. It was such a simple painting by nature, and Tao loved it. 

“What can you tell me about the others living here?” Tao says, looking away from the painting to Sehun. The other hand situated himself on the bed as if he were a starfish, taking up a large portion of the space. Upon hearing Tao’s question he stiffened, his face coming to a small scowl. 

“I only really know Kris. Yixing and Junmyeon will talk to me yeah, they were the ones who let me live here, but I don’t know much about them other than the fact they are nice. Well they are terrifying when they get mad, but that's very rare. Luhan does try to talk to me all the time, so I guess I kind of can say I know him, but not well. Kris says his intentions aren’t pure so I should be careful around him.” 

“You really don’t know the others?” Tao asked. The information Sehun had given he already knew mostly, down to the fact Sehun only hung around the other two. Kris disliking Luhun came as no shock, but the reasoning was rather curious. Sehun seemed oblivious to what Kris had meant by his words, and Tao was now curious to see and interaction between the vampire and the young wolf. Luhan was kind of an ass though, but if he did like Sehun it would be dumb now to do anything to Tao. 

“Oh! There’s Chanyeol. He doesn’t talk, but he can play the guitar really well. He’s nice too, spends most of his time in his room or the game room. Junmyeon says he can talk, but Chanyeol doesn’t feel comfortable about it so we shouldn’t force him. I do like his laugh though.” Sehun patted the bed next to him as he rambled, and Tao took the sign as an invitation to crawl under the covers. He enjoyed how much Sehun spoke, always giving random small details Tao could store for later.

“I’ll trust your judgment on him.” Sehun beamed, wrapping himself around Tao. Sehun was touchy, but Tao had always enjoyed being physically so he snuggled himself closer to the other. He was so tired, his eyes dropping closed easily. He felt so safe and comfortable for once, Sehun wasn’t going to let anything happen to him. The other hadn’t said that but with the way he had acted the whole day, he didn’t need to say it. 

Sleep consumed Tao rather quickly, a sleep filled with a simple dream. There were two moons in the sky, shining brightly as they should. They were bright orange at first, matching the painting. But then the shifted slowly, looking more and more like eyes, changing from the bright orange to gold. They grew narrower, blinking at him. Eyes stared at him, hidden behind them a dark rage begging claw its way out.

Tao woke up sobbing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I remember someone saying 'Sehun is baby' and I think about that to this day. It's very hard for me to write him so I have no idea how he ended up being such a center roll. Baekhyun and Kai do exist, but they will appear much later in the fic. Chanyeol will appear in about two chapters though when he finally crawls out of his room. He really likes it there.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for 30 kudos! I'm so happy people like this.  
Also, the teaser for the New Exo album: Obsession is so beautiful and intriguing I love it so much. The boys looks are amazing and I'm way to hyped to see more.

Every night would end up being the same way.

Tao would go to sleep feeling fine, feeling safe and warm. Sehun would always be wrapped around him and rambling about what tv show he had watched, the birds he had seen outside, or of pretty places he had seen as a child. Always talking about light and happy topics, even when Tao could see the other wasn’t having the best time. Tao really enjoyed the tone of the others voice, how much he spoke. The entire experience would be nice, relaxing Tao and sending him off peacefully. 

But then the nightmares would come. 

Each time was horrible. Only the first night the moons made an appearance. It seemed to trigger something else, something else darker and terrifying. Sometimes he was alone in the darkness unending darkness, and an unseen force would taunt him. Hand he could not see would push him, voice he couldn’t understand would scream things at him over and over again. 

Other times he would suddenly feel like he was suffocating, drowning in unseen waters. More often than not there would be pain, burning pain ripping through him unprovoked when he was finally graced with a more normal dream, ruining everything.

Sometimes he would dream of Irene. She would vanish right in front of him, or be made to suffer. They would be back on the street, him standing above her bloody bloody. Other there would be flames between them, stopping Tao from going to her. Dejun would appearances, but he suffered much less than there sister. He often was simply out of reach, no matter how far Tao would run, his younger brother would be always a bit further ahead. 

The worst had to be the dreams he couldn’t remember. 

Those ones made Tao wake up shaking and covered in sweat, barely able to breath. His heart thundered in his chest, loud enough he was sure everyone could hear it. More often than not tears would be streaming down his face, small whimpers coming from him involuntarily. He would have to reach up and touch his throat, making sure it was indeed still intact and not bleeding all over the bed.

Other times it would be worse, Sehun having to wake Tao up, a worried expression on his face. He would talk, comfort Tao best he could while brushing his hands through the others hair. But Tao would be so out of it, so scared he wasn’t able to understand the others words. All he could do was try and focus on the soft touches, all he could do was try to stop the crying.

All he could do as soon as his eyes open was feeling the aftershock of fear tearing his body apart. 

The days were much better.

They were slow, Tao having much less to do now that the house wasn’t trashed every day. It was weird having so much free time, but Tao wasn’t one to waste time so he made himself busy.

He found himself in one of the empty rooms with a box of fake rose petals he had found lying around. When he had asked Sehun, the younger had said it would be okay to use them since they belonged to one of the previous caretakers. Tao had decided to try messing around with his magic, maybe trying to expand it. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with the petals, but it seemed like a good idea to use them.

Sehun sat snug in the corner, watching quietly as Tao opened the box, tossing the contents as high as he could in the air. They had agreed Sehun could watch as long as he was quiet and didn’t try to do anything. Tao didn’t think he would hurt Sehun with his small tests, but he didn’t want to risk it. He knew a lot about magic in theory, but that didn’t mean his testing would give the results he had read about. 

The petals only feel slightly before they stopped when Tao focused on them. They weren’t frozen in place but hovering, the petals shook lightly as if there were a light breeze yet still in relatively the same place. With a little push they went slowly back up to the ceiling, to the position they had started in. He did this over and over, watching as they beautiful traveled the same path back and forth. 

Surprisingly, Tao felt unaffected by his magic use. Moving things around was considered more of midrange magic, the range Tao wasn’t in last time he checked, yet he had done it without a problem. 

Wanting to test more, Tao focused again, this time not on moving the petals, but changing them. Not a big change, he simply wanted to try changing their color. They were currently an ugly red color, looking very stiff and unrealistic. Whom ever had picked them out had the worst taste. Tao had seen very cheap ones that looked much better than these for only a dollar. 

Very slowly they started to lighten in color, shifting to pink to pale pink, then eventually to white. The petals softened, turning more and more realistic looking, and Tao could swear they like real pure white rose petals by the end. 

“They look so real.” Sehun said quietly, to which Tao nodded in agreement. He froze them in the air again before reaching out to touch one. To his shock, he was greeted by the softness of a real rose petal. Instantly they all dropped to the floor as Tao only focused on the one in his hand, breaking the connection. . Sehun reached out to one near him, picking it up carefully and inspecting it.

“I think they are real now…” Tao commented. All he wanted to do was make them less ugly, not change them completely. Heck, he didn’t even know how he had managed to do that. Color shifting was easy, changing substance completely wasn’t. To be fair, it wasn’t like he was turning lead to gold, all he did was turn a fake petal to a real one. But it opened up a whole new realm of possibilities for Tao to test. 

But how had he done it? Tao couldn’t remember reading much about changing an object to something else. He had never been particularly good at doing magic by the books either, hence why his abilities were so low. For him magic worked best as a feeling or instinct, he just kinda let it happen. 

The two started collected the petal and putting them back in the box after Tao failed to turn them back to their previous state. Although by the time they were all put back and placed on the shelf, Tao could have sworn they had the slightest dusting of pink. He would come back later and see what was going on. Would they wilt, or stay the same? Were they truly real or just an imitation? Many similar questions ran through Tao’s head as the two headed to the kitchen to go have lunch.

Without Tao realizing it, many days had passed and people started to appear around the house again. They never went near Tao or in the same room, they no longer made demands or even requests, hence his lack of even noticing them. 

It wasn’t until Sehun and him were sitting in the living room watching some show the younger liked untill it really hit him. 

Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement, a figure stopping in the door frame. Sehun seemed unbothered, only shifting slightly in position against Tao, eyes never leaving the screen. The figure didn't move, only stood there watching. He could feel the person eyes upon him, sending a wave of discomfort throughout Tao’s entire being. 

Silently he reminded himself he wasn’t in danger anymore.

After what felt like an eternity the person moved, entering into full view. Luhan stood next to the couch for but a moment, before opting to sit on the adjacent couch. The action left enough space for Tao not to feel the need to move further away. He still felt on edge, but Sehun was between them making a natural barrier. 

Sehun surprisingly completely ignored the other's existence. Whether it was due to being too engrossed in the show or something else, Tao didn’t know. In Tao’s opinion, the show wasn’t that good and pretty shallow. You wouldn’t need to watch it with your full attention to keep up with what was going on. 

What Tao did know was Luhan wasn’t here to watch the show. As much as the other tried to pretend to watch it, his eyes spent little time on the screen. 

Tao stared at Luhan, the other seeming to not care that Tao noticed. Luhan’s face held conflict, switching between something that seemed like sadness to a look of relief. Over and over, both subtle, but there enough.

He looked like he wanted to say something, say anything to bridge the gap. Maybe he had an apology for Sehun over something he did. Maybe it was the question of why Sehun was ignoring him. Sehun had said he would hang out with Luhan, Tao had witnessed the two hang around when Kris was around, yet the whole time since Tao had woken up the two hadn't been near each other. 

“I apologize.” 

Tao could feel his eyes widen in surprise. He looked from Sehun to Luhan and back, but the younger wolf still acted as if the other hadn’t existed.

“I should not have consumed your blood without asking. It was completely out of line.”

Oh.

The apology wasn’t for Sehun. Well it could have been, Tao didn’t know if the vampire had drank the others blood or not. But Luhan wasn’t looking at Sehun when he said it, his eyes were on Tao now. And Tao didn’t even know what to say, too taken aback by the sudden apology. So Tao said the first words that came to mind.

“It’s fine.”

Sehun instantly shot up from where he had been leaning, eyes glaring into Luhan hard enough to cause the other to shrink back, averting his gaze from the younger.

“Don’t say that. It’s not fine. He should have never even thought of doing that. He should have asked, given you the choice.” Sehun was quick to scold. Tao didn’t want to argue, the younger was right. A choice would have been nice. Having control over something in his life would have been comforting. Not to mention Tao would have given his blood to the other after getting to know him a bit, Tao didn’t mind helping when he could. 

“Sehun’s right. It wasn’t okay. I was wrong, so wrong, and I would like to try again.” He paused, eyes widening before he looked back to Tao. “Not try to drink your blood again, I swear! I mean Interacting with you, uh…”

Luhan fumbled with his words, looking panicked. 

“I was very rude from the start, even though you were nothing but nice. Not even that fake nice the other ladies used. You don’t have to forgive me, I really fucked up, But I want to make it up to you somehow. I'll do anything.”

A tempting offer was on the table. The words Luhan have been worded differently, but the meaning was the same. The whole thing was very similar to a contract, and that was something Tao could deal with. Luhan wanted Tao’s tolerance, he wanted his own guilt off his shoulders for his unfair treatment. It may have had mostly to do with Sehun not acknowledging him, but Tao could see real guilt in there somewhere. 

Compared to everything that had happened, everything that could have happened, What Luhan had done didn’t upset Tao that much. It was still horrible, but it was forgivable if Luhan could prove his seriousness. 

It was time to test and see if he was.

“Wait here.” Tao ordered, running off to collect what he needed before either of the other males could argue. He quickly made his way through the first floor grabbing what he needed. Paper and a pen from the study , the first aid kit from the laundry room, and a sharp knife from the kitchen. It was easy finding them, his mind somehow drawing up there exact locations the moment he had made his decision. 

He said nothing as he sat back on the sofa and began to write on the paper. The words came naturally, the contract pretty much writing itself. 

_I ____________________, hereby restrict myself from this day forward to only consume blood consensually, no matter the reason or need of consumption. _

It was short, but to the point. As long as Luhan signed it with his own blood, it wouldn’t matter how much Magic Tao had. The contract would be in place until Tao terminated it. 

He passed it over to the other, waiting for a reaction. 

“It’s a contract.” Luhan said slowly.

“Yes, I’m glad you can read.” Tao’s voice carried a bit more bite then he had intended, but Luhan hardly reacted. “I would like you to sign it to prove your serious.” 

Luhan bit his lip, looking from Tao to the paper over and over. It may have seemed like a simple choice, but it was a big commitment. If Luhan were ever attacked, he wouldn’t be able to use his attackers blood to help himself. Animals were now out of the question for feeding. Getting humans drunk out of their minds in order to feed wouldn’t work anymore. Fresh blood could be completely off the table for him for life since Luhan didn’t leave the house.

“Give me the knife.”

Tao handed the knife over. Sehun buried his face in Tao’s shoulder, not wanting to see the blood. They only needed a small cut, just big enough to let the blood flow. When Luhan was finished, Tao handed him the pen and muttered words that he had no idea where they came from. He watched as Luhan signed the paper with the same black pen, but this time the ink looked a rusty red as he wrote, his face shifting in pain with each stroke. When he finished, Tao offered him the first aid kit.

When their eyes met, Luhan shifted into a look of brief confusion. He stared Tao in the eyes for an awkwardly long time, before seeming to shrug off whatever was bothering him.

Sehun only moved when Luhan was all patched up. Luhan still looked in pain, and probably would be feeling the effects for hours to come. But from experience, Tao knew it wouldn’t last more than a day. The vampire should have a higher pain tolerance anyway.

“I think you have proven you truly do regret your actions, so I would like to let you know I forgive you for now.” 

Luhan nodded his head a Tao’s words, a look of relief flooding his face. As fun as that was,(Which Tao didn’t actually find it fun, just interesting) Tao didn’t know if he felt comfortable with going through that process again. For Luhan it felt right to do so, Just like how he had made that suggestion for dealing with Kris. But for the others, Tao would have to wait and see. He might have already overstepped his boundaries with Luhan, but he knew one important thing.

Tao had given Luhan a choice. And Luhan would continue to have the ability to choose.


	10. Chapter 10

Things weren’t great, but they were better. The nightmares didn’t stop, but they seemed to tame down a bit. The images were less vile and shorter, leaving Tao to hope that really sleep would be an achievable goal. 

With his lack of rest, and the days began to blend together in a foggy mess. He still worked, took care of things, and spent his free time with Sehun or taking small naps, but if you asked him what he had done in particular, his mind would draw a blank. 

But it felt like things seemed to be on the up.

A soft knock on the door drew Tao from his third attempt at sleep. The dreams may have visually seemed less potent, but he still managed to wake up over and over filled with dread. Tao didn’t bother moving, it was Sehun's room, so it was likely Sehun was the one they wanted to speak to. Slowly He shook the other awake, not feeling like putting true effort into the act in his sleepy state. Sehun barely moved, opting to mumble that the door was open instead of getting up from the warm bed. Tao couldn’t blame him.

Yixings face popped into Tao’s blurry view, a soft smile planted on his face. “I thought I'd remind you that today we have to go to town for the appointments. Roads are a bit icy, so we will want to go a bit earlier.” 

Ah yes, today would be judgment day. 

Begrudgingly, they both got out of bed. As Tao went through dresser looking for a shirt to barrow that would suit the colder weather, he tried his best to keep himself calm. This had been his idea, he should be able to do this. All he had to do was drive to town, do whatever Yixing had planned, then drive back. Driving wasn’t that hard, he had been doing it for years. 

Besides, Yixing would be there the entire time just in case anything went wrong.

But as the small group met up in the living room just before they should go, Tao quickly found himself wishing he could back out and crawl back into bed. He could feel his nails digging into palms as he tried to ground himself. His throat felt dry suddenly, he wanted to slip away and get water. From there it would be easy to get away. 

Being even in the same room as _him_ was proving to be too much, and they were about to be in a small car together for over an hour. He didn’t dare to look up at the figure standing only at an arm's length. Tao was certain his flight or fight would kick in and everything Yixing had worked so hard on would be ruined. 

“Tao, it’s time to go.” Sehun’s voice cut into Tao’s mess of thoughts, followed by a finger poking at his cheek. Everyday Tao grew more grateful for the younger. “We don’t want to be late.”

Somehow Tao made it to the car without having a full on break down. If anything, the further he made it the more his terror simmered down into just the feeling of nervousness. The seating arrangement gave him comfort. Sehun sat behind him, Yixing in the middle, Then Kris in the far corner. Tao still managed not to look at him, instead focusing his attention on the new face who took the passenger seat. Sehun had insisted Chanyeol could have the front seat, his reason being how tall he was. Chanyeol was indeed very tall, maybe even level with Tao’s height. 

The others appearance had been quite shocking. The house residents spent most of their time in full human form except for the cat. And he could tell Chanyeol did to, but his human appearance was…. Interesting. His hair was a very vivid bright blue with no natural root color showing, with equally bright red eyes. Tao’s best guess had to be contacts for how his eyes got to be such a brilliant color. But the color was nice, the brightness bringing a little bit of life and excitement to the place. It helped that Chanyeol was also very expressive, smiling almost as much as Yixing did despite not speaking.

Chanyeol also turned out to be very helpful when he pulled out an old case of cd’s, asking silently if he could play them. Tao was more than accepting of the idea, allowing anything to keep himself from thinking about the person in the back seat. And it worked, the entire ride filled with loud korean rap music blasting through the speakers. Sehun sang along most of the time while Chanyeol drummed his fingers against the dashboard. 

A little over an hour and a half later they ended up in front of a small house pretty much hidden amongst a plethora of office buildings. A large sign outside reading “The Sunshine House” which made it seem a little less like they were invading a random home. The name seemed a bit silly, but Tao had never really ran a business so he couldn't complain much. 

The entire back seat emptied out rather fast, and Tao couldn’t help but watch. Sehun went straight into the front door without hesitation, looking quite happy and comfortable with the whole situation. Tao could vaguely remember Sehun disappearing every few days for an hour or so with phone in hand, getting a video call. The same person he would be seeing in person today. 

Yixing on the other hand had a hand wrapped around Kris’s arm, gently trying to tug him towards the building. The taller male wasn’t budging, standing completely stiff. Tao didn’t even need to see the other face to know what he was feeling. The body language told him enough, not to mention he could just feel the other emotions radiating off of him. 

Kris was terrified of going into the building. 

The same Kris who would constantly be around Sehun, didn’t want the enter the building the younger had entered with no problems. It really didn’t make sense, Tao had no idea how much Kris new about what would be happening today, but surely he knew the jist of it. It wasn’t anything dangerous, and the people working in the building weren’t humans from what Junmyeon had said. Tao had to admit he had been surprised when he had first heard there was a version of this for non humans, but he saw nothing wrong with it.

Yixing took his time trying to coax Kris into the building, but the other male remained in place.

A good 15 minutes passed before the door opened and a guy completely dress inappropriately for the weather, only wearing a tank top and shorts, made his way out to the two. He took Yixings placement, grabbing ahold of Kris and the pair were moving. The guy must have been hella strong to drag the wolf, who ended up having to walk in order to stop himself from face planting on the ground. Yixing waited until they both were inside before he came back to the car.

“Is that going to be okay?” Tao asked, looking worriedly at the building. Part of him wasn’t sure who he was worried about, or even understand why he was worried at all.

“They’ll be fine, All seven of them are in today to make sure nothing goes down. Jackson alone is capable to stop anything Kris could try..” Yixings soothing voice easily convinced Tao that things would be fine with how sure he sounded. “Lets’ go shopping.”

It didn’t take them long to walk to a nearby mall. Tao had wondered why they hadn’t parked at the mall, but upon seeing the tiny parking lot completely fully already he pushed those thoughts away. The structure was on the smaller side of malls, only being 2 stories tall and maybe containing a hundred stores and restaurants, if not less. The place was already littered with Christmas decorations inside and out, the traditional holidays colors standing out greatly agaisnt the lackluster surroundings and stores.

Was it really that time of year already?

Chanyeol parted ways with them the moment they stepped through the doors with a small wave, scurrying off in the direction a small coffee shop barely in view. He had a skip in his step as he went off, a wide loopy smile on his face. It was unlikely he was feeling that way for the coffee, they had a pretty amazing coffee machine at home that looked as if nobody had ever used it. Maybe he had human friends? 

Nevertheless, Chanyeols excitement seemed to dissipate whatever fears Tao had left as he finally could feel his body stop shaking from the nerves. What little shakes his body participated in now could only be blamed on the cold. He should have asked to borrow a coat from Sehun, but Tao already felt bad enough that he practically lived in the others space. What Tao wouldn’t do just to get a good jacket for the weather. Maybe he should ask Junmyeon if there was something he could do for extra cash. He seemed like the right guy to ask.

The remaining two ended up going clothing shopping of course, Tao holding the clothing items for Yixing as he made way through many of the shops. He never tried any of it on, but Tao had to admit the guy had a nice taste in style. A lot of the items were more attuned for winter, but they looked very nice and of quality. If Tao had money, he would have probably bought one for himself. Yixing wasn’t afraid of name brands it seemed, often picking out pieces Tao had been looking at, even asking for Tao opinion on things. It didn’t take long for both males arms to but full of bags of clothing. 

Tao made a mental note to figure out where in the world all this money was coming from. No one had yet to mention anything about work or having a job. 

Yixing suggested they make their way back to the car to drop off the bags, then come back and check up on Chanyeol.

On the way to the car the encountered zero issues other then the bags slipping out of Tao’s hands twice. He felt bad about it, but Yixing laughed it off and told him it was fine, that nothing had gotten damaged so it all was good. They were barely able to fit all the bags in the cars truck, but they did it somehow. Yixing made a comment about needing a bigger vehicle like a suv or van and that he would look into it. Again, Tao questioned how in the world they had money.

They began chatting a bit, and Tao learned that apparently Yixing knew how to drive, he just didn’t have any legal documents to prove he could and didn’t feel comfortable driving without them. 

After that fact was revealed, the two started to head back to the mall.

When they were about halfway back to the mall Tao felt a chill run down his spine. There weren’t many people out at this time, most humans working at this time. But there were enough that the streets weren’t empty. He looked around, but nobody particular stuck out or caught his attention. Yixing was walking in front of him and humming softly, the sidewalking being a bit to narrow for them to walk side by side without one of them being in the street. Perhaps he was just cold, but Tao really didn’t believe it the moment he thought it.

As the rounded the next corner Tao noticed it. Two figures in the distance, both female. They were quite a ways back and on the other side of the street, but as Tao and Yixing made it further down the street, the two female also turned and ended up behind them. Although they were still a safe enough distance, it felt wrong.

It shouldn’t bother him, it was very possible they too were going to the mall. This wasn’t exactly some back alley where people would get attacked. It wasn’t logical for two people to attack to much taller guys, one that could easily tower over them. All they were doing was walking the same path, and Yixing didn’t seem on edge at all. But Yixing didn’t even seem to notice the two figures who were now getting closer. 

Tao’s vision began to turn fuzzy as his brain started to send danger warnings to him, each step he took making them louder. Something in his mind screamed _run, protect yourself_, but Tao fought the urge to do so. He couldn’t risk doing that and leaving Yixing, he had no idea how the other would react if they knew Tao left in him in danger. If only Tao could warn Yixing somehow without alerting the women behind them. But the activity going on his head made it difficult to form any thoughts, let alone plan anything.

On impulse, At the next street Tao turned instead of going forward. Yixing oblivious to his actions, kept going forward to the mall. 

As Tao feared, the woman turned where he had, increasing their pace. The good news was Yixing was no longer in danger, they seemed to be focused entirely on Tao. 

The bad news had to be Tao could feel himself losing consciousness, and his body wasn’t even trying to fight it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stuff happened.


	11. Chapter 11

To say Yixing was panicked when he arrived at the mall only to realize Tao wasn’t behind him, would have been an understatement.

The moment it set in that Tao was nowhere in range it felt as if his heart stopped. Senario after scenario of things that could have happened to him ran through his head, none of them being good. Had be been kidnapped? Murdered? Ran away? Disappeared into the void?

The first thing he did was make a group call with Kris and Sehun, demanding they come to the mall entrance right now and not to let each other out of sight. He then poked his head into the mall and made a similar call to Chanyeol, watching the whole time as the taller male ran to him his face filled with confusion. Yixing explained what he could, which wasn’t a lot as the two waited for the wolves to arrive. 

“Tao’s missing.” Yixing didn’t even wait for the wolves to come to a full stop before they stopped. They two had come running, probably faster than then should have but nobody really cared at the moment. Both were painting heavily with faces red from the cold, Sehun leaning on Kris as he tried to catch his breath. 

“How the fuck did you loose him?” Kris spat out, an all too familiar glare on his face. 

“We need to find him now. I don’t even know how long he has been gone.” Yixing ignored the others expression. 

“Are you sure he didn’t just run off? He has every reason not to want to stick around.” Kris asked, resulting in Sehun smacking him in the face. It wasn’t a hard slap, more of a warning to shut up. 

“He may be absolutely terrified of you, But he wouldn’t run off like that. From what I’ve heard, he has plenty of reasons not to run off.” Sehun growled. 

“Well, have you tried calling him?” 

“He doesn’t have a phone.”

“Yixing should have bought him one, it’s been over 2 hours since we got here.”

“I was planning on getting him one, but I got distracted-”

Everyone’s phones dinged at the same time, hands went flying trying to grab their own phones. It read the same one everyones phone.

_Chanyeol: Why don’t we split up and find him instead of arguing?_

It was useful to have a person who didn’t argue around sometimes. Bringing Chanyeol had been a very smart play.

“Chanyeol, you’re with Kris. Sehun stays with me. Don’t let your partner out of sight, We don’t need anyone else vanishing.” Yixing quickly delegated. In any other situation, the pairings would have been different, but Sehun still wouldn’t go near Kris willingly. Chanyeol and Sehun would both be too worried to get to much ground covered, so they had to just work like this.

They split up, With Sehun trying to follow some sort of scent trail.That left Chanyeol chasing after Kris’s fast walking pace. It wasn’t hard to keep up with his big steps since they were both tall, and despite how much time Chanyeol spent sitting down he was nowhere near out of shape. What had made him have to run was Kris had only glanced around for a minute before taking off without warning. Chanyeol may not have been talkative, but Kris didn’t need to just walk off and say nothing. He could hear things just fine.

They were walking back in the direction of the car, when Kris suddenly stopped at the street corner. Chanyeol had almost tripped himself trying to stop, turning and giving the other a questioning look. Kris was frowning, his eyes narrowed as he stared at the street before him. Chanyeol would give anything to know what was going on in the wolves head. Was he following a scent trail or his gut? Did he really dislike everyone or just have really bad people skills?

Instead of crossing it and continuing the way back, Kris turned and was back to walking fast. Chanyeol was left to try and keep track of the other as he continued not to warn when he would be turning or stopping. The only constant seemed to be his furrowed brows and his expression of concentration mixed with irritation. Chanyeol began to grow more concerned the farther they went, the buildings growing older, dirtier and closer together.

They were pretty far from where they started, now in the part of town that made Chanyeol's throat itch as anxiousness ran through him. This area wasn’t the best part of town, and it wouldn’t be hard for them to find something that could set Chanyeol off. It didn’t help that supernaturals loved hanging out in these types of areas, humans here were desperate and willing to do anything. Running into others wouldn’t be necessarily bad by default, but Kris probably wasn’t going to make the situation good based on the expression on his face.

Kris stopped again, halfway down a particularly dark cramped alley, the sun being blocked out by the tall buildings shoved against each other. Only a few feet ahead of the was a small space between two of the buildings, where voices could be heard.

“Oh come on, I’m sure you would be of amazing use to us. We wouldn’t even keep a leash on you.” A woman's voice said. 

“I’m sure we would treat you better than any of those dogs do.” Another female chimed in. Chanyeol felt himself cringe at the latter part of the statement. 

“No.”

Chanyeol hadn’t heard their witch talk much, but he was pretty sure he had been the voice to say no. Kris and Chanyeol exchanged a look before silently creeping forward towards the small space.

“Oh come on, don’t be like that.” The first woman's voice said, followed by a loud hiss of pain. 

“Don’t touch me.” Came Tao’s voice again. 

“How dare you hurt her!” The other woman's voice rang out, her tone full of anger. Not wanting to wait for whatever was going to happen next, the two quickly bolted into the area. 

“Leave him alone.” Kris commanded. The two women instantly moved back, the shorter of the two taking a protective stance in front of the other. The tall was holding her other arm, her attached hand looking painfully red and swollen. Tao simply stood in front of the women, his back to Chanyeol and Kris. His hands were down at his sides, making Chanyeol wonder how he had managed to harm the other so fast. 

The shorter woman glared at Kris. 

“Your witch hurt my mate.” She hissed, showing off her long fangs in her mouth. Great, vampires. They had managed to have a run in with vampires. Pissed off, mated vampires. 

“And he said no to you, yet you kept bothering him.” Kris said, glaring back at the woman. Chanyeol really wanted to tell Kris to back of, It was stupid to pick a fight with random vampires. If there were only two, then sure, they stood a chance at winning. But they had no idea if there were anymore nearby, let alone if the rest of there circle would stalk them down as revenge for killing them. It would be a better idea to grab Tao and run for it.

“Oh please, don’t act like you never make your witch do something they don’t want to. We all know how it works, don’t act like you're better than us.” The woman answered. Well, she wasn’t wrong with that. Kris had for sure crossed the line. The only question now was how he was going to respond.

“He isn’t yours, end of story.” Kris took a step forward, and the women quickly moved back. 

“Let’s just go, It’s not worth it.” The taller woman said quietly, staring down at her injured hand. The shorter one huffed, but gave up and pulled her mate away and the two disappeared into the darkness of the alley. 

“Tao, Yixing is worried about you. We need to go back.” Kris called out to Tao. He hadn't moved during the entire exchange. 

Tao remained in place, giving no response. 

“I know you hate me, but seriously, we need to go in case they want to come back.” 

Nothing.

Kris looked to Chanyeol, and that was all it took for Chanyeol to go forward. He went up to Tao, gently tapping the others shoulder. He made no movements still, so Chanyeol moved in front of him. 

Tao simply stared forward with a blank expression, His eyes glowing a vibrant purple. Chanyeol waved a hand in front of his face, and as expected Tao didn't react in the slightest. Nothing appeared wrong with him physically, not a single scratch or drop of blood to be seen. 

“What in the world did they do to you?” Chanyeol asked quietly, before smacking a hand over his mouth and freezing. He had only meant it as a thought, yet it had slipped out. He stood there, petrified, waiting for something bad to happen to the person he was supposed to be helping. But nothing changed, other then Tao blinking once.

Kris made his way over, standing next to his frozen partner. One look was all he needed before he took his phone out. 

“Pick him up, I’ll call Yixing.” Kris said as he started to type in a number. “If he comes back to normal and I’m touching him, Things won’t be pretty.”

Chanyeol nodded, seeing the logic in Kris’s words. Tao seemed okay with Chanyeol, so it hopefully wouldn’t be that bad if he carried him. He carefully picked Tao up bridal style, thinking that carrying him like so would be much easier. Kris began to lead the way back, explaining the events to Yixing. Chanyeol couldn’t hear much of the other end of the phone, but he heard enough to know the other was still panicking. 

It took them much longer to get back to the car, Kris taking the wrong turn more than once and having to use a map on his phone. Chanyeol wondered how it was any different then finding their way here, but decided not to voice this question. Kris looked in a bad mood as is, there was no need to go around a push on buttons. 

Once they made it back to “The Sunshine House,” Chanyeol was quick to set Tao down on the fancy sofa offered to them. Luckily the room was large enough it didn’t feel stuffy as everyone crowded in, trying to get a look at Tao and figure out what was going on. Two of the workers currently in the room as well, keeping a respectable distance. 

“Did you do something to him again Kris?” Yixing asked, narrowing his eyes at the wolf. 

Kris rolled his in response. “He was like this when we found him.” 

One of the workers, Jinyoung, made his way over. The male was quick and fluid in his moments, as if he were air. Jinyoung inspected Tao, lightly moving him around while inspecting his eyes. “I’m not sure what’s wrong, But we could have Yugyeom look at him. He would have a better idea than any of us. But he won’t come in here with so many people.” 

With that Kris, Chanyeol and a reluctant Sehun were out of the room, and a teen male was brought in. He stopped just inside the door, eyes wide as he looked at Tao on the couch. After he got over his shock, his eyes over to Jinyoung, seeming to ask for permission to go over to Tao. Jinyoung nodded towards the sofa and Yugyeom slowly made his way over, his eyes filled with interest as he inspected Tao. 

"Why is he acting so surprised?" Yixing asked. Yugyeom seemed to be amazed at just the sight of Tao, which was rather odd in his opinion. Tao was interesting to look at yes, but the reaction seemed a bit deeper. 

"Ah, That right. You guys aren't exactly a…" Jinyoung paused, looking for the right word, "Pack? Coven? I'm not sure what term would apply best for your group. You guys have never kept a witch around long enough to know much about them." 

Yugyeom looked up at Jinyoung at the word witch, before going back to inspecting Tao. 

"It's very rare for witches to run into each other since they are so rare and most are owned by groups that keep them under tight watch." Jinyoung said. 

Yixing blinked, completely surprised by the new information. He knew about witches being rare, hence the owner get upset every time one left the house refusing to go back. They had been sold off from what he had been told, they had been given new contracts. But witches being kept away from society was news to him. The only witches Yixing knew were the ones that had came to the house, and he never got to know them. As interesting as he found them, he never felt brave enough to approach them. Junmyeon seemed to be even worse.

"Why are they so rare?" Yixing asked. Jinyoung and his pack were most of the few people Yixing knew. He wouldn't say he was close to them, but there was this sort of friendship and trust they had. The Sunshine House residents had been around much longer then Yixing, and their knowledge has been proven to be useful time and time again when it came to dealing with creatures and traditions. Junmyeons group was very young and disorganized according to Jinyoung. Yixing couldn't argue, the others barely knew each other and most didn't even try to get along. At first Yixing had tried to encourage people to get to know each other, but he couldn't force them to interact. 

The most they had all seemed to get along was in tormenting Tao. 

A quiet voice mumbled something Yixing couldn’t quite catch, all eyes falling on its owner. Yugyeom was kneeling on the floor next to Tao, a solemn look on his face. One of his hands hovered over Taos chest as if he wanted to touch it, but he just let it hang. 

"Don't say things like that." Jinyoung said, his eyes wide with shock at the others' words. "That is not true. Nobody is going away."

Silence followed, Yixing still wishing for answers but not wanting to push for them at the time.

"He seems to be fine, I just can't figure out how he is using his magic." Yugyeom finally said, looking up to Yixing. "If i knew how he was using it, I could try and stop it and bring him back. But I don't know."

Yugyeom's hand dropped to Taos chest, and everything happened all too fast. 

Tao's eyes returned to their normal color for a few moments before he shot up, a look of absolute terror on his face. Yugyeom screeched in surprise while both Jackson and Jinyoung moved towards their youngest. Yixing was slower to react, but tried to go to Tao all the same. 

But they were all stopped by an unseen force, unable to get within 5 feet of either of the witches. Jackson kept moving, trying to go around the unseen wall as his eyes began to turn there natural fiery color, but it was no use. Tao's breathing was heavy, his eyes wide but still clouded as he wrapped his arms around a petrified Yugyeom, pulling the younger close to him. His eyes flickered between the faces he didn't know. Yugyeom now mirrored Tao's terrified expression, but his eyes were focused on Jinyoung. 

"Tao, calm down." Jinyoung said calmly, standing still and trying to appear as relaxed as possible. Despite this, his eyes flickered black. Yixing was confused for a moment about why he was acting that way when his youngest looked terrified. But then Yixing remembered Jinyoung's whole profession involved situations such as this. 

"I'm not going to let you kill him." Tao said, dragging the frightened teen closer to him. Jackson stopped moving at those words, pulling away from the unseen line. 

"Tao, they aren't going to hurt him." Yixing said, but Tao shook his head and kept his arms around the younger. Yugyeom squirmed a bit in his grasp, Tao’s grip looking painfully tight 

"It hurts." Yugyeom whined. Jinyoung reacted fast, grabbed Jackson before he could attempt to attack the unseen wall again. That would only freak out Tao more. 

"Tao, we aren't going to hurt him. I don't know what is going on in your head right now, but Yugyeom is one of us and we would rather die than let anything happen to him." Jinyoung said. “Look at him, He want to come to us. Why would he be doing that Tao?”

Tao slowly looked down, observing the teen fretting in his grip. His facial expression made no changes, but he ended up letting Yugyeom go. The teen moved quickly, going to Jackson open arms. The poor kids was shaking horribly, looking on the verge of crying as he stared at Tao.

Everything was a mess, and Yixing was at a loss at what to do.


	12. Chapter 12

The first time waking up somewhere else had been fine. All he had managed to do was end up in his bed feeling better then when he had passed out. 

This time was not remotely the same. 

Tao was sitting on a sofa, which was a major difference right off the bat. He was in a place he didn’t recognize, with people he didn’t know staring at him.

Part of him saw the situation as a fight or flight one, but Tao reminded himself that he didn’t know the situation so it would be best not to overreact. Fighting was off the table, Tao wasn’t the biggest fan of it unless necessary. He would be pretty good in a physical altercation if needed since he had read plenty of martial arts books and taught himself what he could in his days trapped in the apartment. Of course he had read up on plenty of offensive spells, but he had never had enough magic to do any. 

The good news had to be Yixing also was staring at him, and he did kinda recognize Hudson or whatever his name had been. 

“I want to go back to the house.” Tao stood up, keeping his eyes trained on Yixing. ‘Running’ would be the best option, going to the house was the best idea he could think of. He didn’t like the curious look he was getting from one of the unfamiliar faces,nor the look the the crying teen that felt awfully familiar, or the look Hudson gave, who was comforting said teen. Yixing looked worried, which Tao preferred over the other reactions. 

“Um, yes, we can go back if that's okay…?” Yixing asked, seemingly startled by Tao’s request. Yixings eyes moved to the stranger looking at Tao with interest, who shrugged in response.

“He appears to be fine now, so I see no reason to keep him. Although I do think it would be a good idea for him to come in at some point himself. I wouldn’t suggest forcing him to come in unless someone gets hurt.” The male smiled , but it came off rather forced and stiff. “You know how to contact us.”

Tao needed no further instruction, walking out of the room and heading for a door that looked to be the front exit. He had one goal, get out of there and go to the house. Nothing else mattered. The three others were all sitting in the waiting area, but Tao simply walked past them as fast as he could. All that was on his mind was crawling into his own bed. 

Sehun was quick to catch up with Tao. 

“What’s going on? Are you alright? What happened in there?” Sehun asked, a worried look on his face. Tao didn’t know how to explain anything. He increased his walk speed but Sehun easily was able to keep up with him. 

“I just want to go back.” Tao answered, unlocking the car and getting in. His hands fell upon the worn steering wheel, trying to find some comfort in the familiar object. Driving probably wasn’t the greatest idea, but he needed to go now. The others trailed out after getting in the car silently. No one asked further questions, everyone tried to avoid looking at him. The air was thick with tension, putting Tao even more on edge. He wanted to say something, say anything to explain himself.

But he couldn’t. 

How do you explain your feelings when you yourself can’t even comprehend them?

Everything felt overwhelming all at once. 

His breaths became shallower and quicker, but he ignored it. His arms were shaking, so he simply gripped the wheel even tighter. Now was not the time, he could deal with this later. He couldn’t show them weakness now. Sehun had already seen enough of his breakdowns. And with the problems with Kris, who knows how the aggressive wolf would act if he caught on to Tao’s fear. Wolves were known for manipulating other problems, there weaknesses for their own gain. Tao couldn’t risk being exposed like that. 

Driving was indeed doable, if you counting missing the right turns and running stop signs multiple times okay. His mind was racing, unable to handle the silence. It only seemed to amplify everything, pushing Tao closer and closer to the edge. 

After wasting a good 15 minutes and almost hitting another car, he pulled over. Tao ripped open Chanyeol’s cd case and put a random dic in, not caring what played and raised the volume far louder the necessary. He couldn’t sit around in his own head at the moment, but he also couldn’t talk either. 

His eyes flickered to the rear view mirror, catching Kris looking back at him in the glass.

It felt as if time froze. 

Tao stared at him through the small mirror, the other not breaking contact. At first Tao wanted to shrink back, knowing what to expect from the other. He knew what the other's gaze intelled. But Tao felt stunned by the look instead. For the first time, Kris eyes held no anger, no annoyance, no confusion. 

Bewilderment consumed Tao.

There was something else going on in the wolves eyes, layers of something that Tao couldn’t pick apart in a small reflection. Maybe if Tao stared long enough he could figure out what the look was. Maybe if they were face to face, and Tao wasn’t on the verge of a melt down, it wouldn’t be so confusing and strange.

Kris did end up averting his gaze, choosing instead to look out the window. Tao returned to looking at the road ahead of him. It suddenly felt much easier to drive. His breathing was almost back to normal and his arms were no longer shaking. He still felt scared and the need to climb into his bed, but it all felt manageable now. Had staring down Kris, the person who he was most terrified at the current moment, really made him feel so much better? The wolf had been the one to submit, the one to look away first. Wolves didn’t like to do that from what Tao had experienced, yet it had happened.

They made it back home in one piece, the rest of the drive back being uneventful. Tao had taken the correct route and not broken any traffic laws. The ride had still remained silent, the others trying their best to keep themselves busy. 

Once they were parked Sehun tried to talk to him again, but Tao wasn’t ready. He bolted to his room, crawling into the tiny bed he hadn’t seen in ages. He may have been physically fine, but a storm was brewing inside and Tao was terrified of being swept away in it. He already caused enough problems, he couldn’t dare cause more. He didn’t know anything about his black out problem, but he had to fix it before things become worse. Before something horrible came out of it. What if someone had gotten hurt because of him?

Darker thoughts started seeping into his mind.

What if he had been having these problems for much longer? He had spent so much time doing nothing in the apartment it wouldn’t have been a stretch to think that those hours that he had been sleeping might have been spent doing something else. did Irene and Xaiojun know? What if Xaiojun vanished because of him? What if Irene died because of him? 

Tao didn’t even realize he had started crying. 

He was terrified of what was happening, confused about why it was happening to him. He wanted answers so badly, but at the same time he was scared of answers he would get. The more he knew about the world, the worse it got. Despite everything, he felt so alone and if he had no one to reach out to. Sure there was Sehun, who had tried to reach out only a short while ago not once but twice, but Tao couldn’t bother the poor kids with his feelings. He was just too nice and knew little about the nasty world.

Tao ended up drifting off into a restless sleep, crying himself to exhaustion. Although he was scared of waking up somewhere else, he didn’t feel anything like the last time he had lost consciousness. Hopefully that meant he wouldn’t be doing anything. Hopefully the nightmares wouldn’t come as bad.

Tao was partly woken by the sound of his door opening, but he was too drained to even attempt to open his eyes. He felt ever more tired then he had before passing out. Was one night of good sleep too much to ask for?

Shifting slightly in his bed, he ended up moving closer to the wall. The ward had faded to a much weaker state, but he didn’t feel worried about anything happening. If the person did mess with him, the magic was still there just enough to cause damage. But since the person had ended up just walking in, Tao guessed it was either Sehun or Yixing. The others were still kept their distance, and Junmyeon still acted nervous around Tao.

A weight sunk on the edge of the bed, the person most likely sitting as to not get into the already cramped space. Tao expected the person to say something, try to convince him to get out of bed. They would have to be a fool not to know of Tao semi-conscious state. Before Tao could attempt to open his eyes and figure out who had entered the room, he felt a soft tug on his blanket as it was adjusted on top of him. It had been only a minor adjustment, but Tao felt more comfortable. 

A hand began to run through his hair slow comforting way, similar to how Sehun would when Tao had a nightmare. It felt wonderful, both the touches and knowing it was Sehun who had checked on him despite Tao ignoring him. If Sehun hadn't started treating Tao like a real person, Tao wasn’t sure what would have happened to himself.

Tao could feel himself drifting back to sleep, his mess of thought clearing up and leaving his mind at ease. The experience reminded Tao of when his siblings had needed to calm him down to go to sleep. The soft touches of comfort, the quiet whispers that he wouldn’t be able to comprehend due to his sleepy state. He couldn’t understand Sehun’s words, but he didn’t need to. Somehow, he could just feel the comfort the other was attempting to convey, something that had never worked when he had woken up from the nightmares. 

When Tao opened his eyes hours later, He found himself feeling well rested. More than that, he felt great instead of just okay or fine. It was easy getting up and heading downstairs.

Tao stopped at the bottom of the stairs, spotting a peculiar sight. Minseok and Jongdae were cleaning of their own free will. The cat had a sponge and bucket in hand and appeared to be scrubbing ever surface he could, while the other was attempting to sweep. Minseok appeared to be pretty good at his task, everything from the railings, to the tables, to the doors looking much cleaner. Jongdae on the other hand seemed to be just moving the dirt from one spot to another, not quite sure what he should be doing with his pile. 

Both of them looked up when Tao took the last step. No words were exchanged as the two simply nodded to Tao and went back to work. Once Tao turned and started for the kitchen, he heard the cat inform the other he should get a dustpan so he could actually finishing sweeping and not mess around.

Entering the Kitchen, Tao spotted the vampire Kyungsoo making something on the stove. Just like the other two, his head whipped up upon noticing, his eyes going wide. He appeared apprehensive, as if he had been caught doing something he shouldn’t have been. 

“It’s okay, you can use the kitchen all you want. It’s for everybody.” Tao said, going to the fridge and pulling something out to eat. As long as the other didn’t ruin anything in the kitchen, Tao didn’t care what he did. Trying to cook was a better option than other things the vampire could be doing. A look of relief washed over the others face and he turned back to his food.

For being a group of people who couldn’t take care of themselves, they seemed to be awfully productive today. Tao wondered what the occasion was. 

Shuffling his way back to his room, Tao found himself being stopped by Junmyeon. The older male stood outside his door, his arms full of shopping bags from the previous day. 

“These are for you.” Junmyeon said, offering the Bags to Tao. 

“What?” Tao said dumbly. 

“These are for you.” Jumyeon repeated. “A gift from us.”

Tao looked at the large amount of bags, remembering all the money spent and items Yixing had bought the day prior. He was grateful for the gifts, it would be nice not to wear the same things until they fell apart. There was just one slight problem…

“I don’t have enough space for all of that.” Tao pointed out. Junmyeon blinked, seemingly surprised by Tao’s concern. He remained silent for a moment, clearly trying to think of what to do.

“Then we can store them in them somewhere else. Come with me.” Junmyeon said, turning and walking down the hall. Tao quickly followed. They ended up on the other side of the house, entering a door Tao had never seen anyone open. The room looked familiar, off white walls, burnt orange carpet and large windows on the far wall. It took a moment for Tao to realize that it was exactly like Junmyeons except it lacked almost any furniture or decorations. There was a large bed pushed off to the side, but nothing more. 

“This is Yixing’s room.” Junmyeom commented as he walked over to the closet door. “I’m sure he won’t mind if you use his closet space.” Tao was confused on how such an empty room could be Yixings. Even the large walk in closet had nothing in it other then a few hangers and empty shelving. Junmyeon began hanging putting away the clothing, not bothering to get any help from the stunned Tao. 

“But what if he needs the space?” Tao asked.

Junmyeon didn’t bother to stop what he was doing as he answered. “There is enough space in my room, I doubt he will ever need this space.”

“They told me about what happened yesterday.” Tao could feel himself freeze up at the others' words. Junmyeon finished hanging the last coat, turning back to Tao with a serious look on his face. “We aren’t going to force you to talk about it, it isn’t our place. But I would like you to know we would be more than happy to listen to you or help you out in anyway when you feel like sharing.” 

Tao bowed slightly, relieved the topic wasn’t going to be pushed. Tao still wished to figure things out himself.

“But I am concerned about the run in you had. I know it wasn’t your fault, but please do be careful when you are out, and tell us if something seems out of place or wrong. I have no idea how I would be able to deal with any of you getting hurt.” Junmyeon said.

“Of course.” Tao nodded. He hadn’t intended to cause problems, but he understood how it would have been better to warn Yixing somehow. 

WIth that, Junmyeon left Tao alone with his new wardrobe. It was a lot to take in, it would take weeks for Tao to wear everything at least once. Now it made sense why Yixing had been asking Tao so much and seeing to get things too big for himself. Tao pulled out a nice looking charcoal colored pea coat that was a bit longer than a normal coat. He really wanted to wear it, but at the same time he had no reason to and didn’t want to ruin it since it was a gift. If he had bought it himself, Tao wouldn’t hesitate to throw it on and prance around for everyone to see the beautiful creation. But he hadn’t bought it.

Tao put the coat back, deciding to go look for Sehun instead and properly apologize for yesterday. He shouldn’t have ignored the younger, he should have tried to explain himself. Tao knocked on Sehun’s door and poked his head in, surprised to find the younger not in his room. Next he made his way through the lower level, again surprised to not find Sehun anywhere. 

After making his third run through the living room, Tao spotted Luhan laying on the couch. Upon closer inspection, Tao noticed that the vampire had a large nasty bruise on the side of his face. It looked painful, and Tao couldn’t help but feeling slightly bad. Luhan wouldn’t be able to heal it that fast without fresh blood.

“What happened to you?” Tao asked, trying to sound casual as he seated himself on the adjacent couch.

“Kris.” Luhan answered simply, looking up at Tao. the vampire made no attempts to get up.

“What did you do?” Tao asked, unable to stop himself. He didn’t know why he asked it, it wasn’t a crazy idea to think Kris would attack someone out of the blue. Tao knew that first hand. Yet the words had slipped out somehow.

Luhan frowned, and Tao could pretty much see the other thinking of what to answer.

“He was being annoying so I tripped him.” Luhan admitted, traces of embarrassment laced in his voice.. Tao stared at him, amazed at the words coming from the others mouth. What were they, Five? 

“So he hit you?” Tao asked.

“No. When he started to fall he grabbed onto me. Because of the angle we both ended up at the bottom of the stairs.” Luhan said, covered his face with his hand. “I ended up face first.”

Now that was not the twist Tao had been expecting. Tao couldn’t help but chuckle as the vampire let out an annoyed groan. 

“Are you guys friends or do you hate each other? I honestly can’t tell at this point.” Tao asked once he managed to calm himself down. 

“We get along you could say. I mean, I like him when he isn’t being how he is. But sometimes he purposely does things to annoy me and I question if we are friends or not” Luhan huffed dramatically. 

“Speaking of Sehun, where is he?”

“Out doing wolf stuff with Kris.”

“Wolf stuff?”

“I honestly don’t know. It’s wolf stuff, I’m not a wolf.”

Tao rolled his eyes.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> x

No matter what task Tao completed, he couldn’t stop the anxious feeling from creeping into his mind. He felt the need to move without end, fluttering around the house all he could without invading the others space. It didn't matter how many time he swept the kitchen floor, folded the laundry, meal prepped, read, worked out, nothing could calm his mind. 

He went out on a walk, treading through the thin layer of snow that had sprinkled the ground during the night. Most of the trees that would normally hold leaves stood bare. Many evergree’s stood proudly among them, a few short enough to be used as Christmas trees. Did any of the others celebrate the holiday? So far none of them had mentioned it nor had he seen any decorations. If they didn’t, maybe Junmyeon would be nice enough to allow Tao to see up a Tree in the living room. He had always wanted a big tree dripping with colorful decorations, but they had never had the money or space for one. 

When Tao returned an hour or so later, he felt ever more wound up. Things had gotten so bad he even had the guts to go up to any member he could find and ask if they needed anything. Most said no or moved away before Tao could get the statement halfway said. Luhan had asked to drink his blood, which Tao allowed since he figured the feeling of being drained might help settle him down some. But even as the others fang piercing his skin and the blood was drawn from him, no relief was given.

If anything, the loss of blood only amped up the feeling to an unbearable level. He started to pace around the house again, adjusting every little thing he saw. The few people he ran into kept a distance, clearly not wanting to get in the way of the anxious witch.

But why was he feeling like this? 

When it came down to it, Tao could only conclude that it had to do with Sehun still being out. It had been two days since he had left with Kris, and he hadn’t heard so much as a word from the other. Ever since they had become friends, they had spent little time away from each other. A few hours at the max. But now, it had been over 48 hours and Tao wasn’t feeling super fricking on edge. Maybe it was his witch instinct warning him something was wrong?

“Tao.” A voice said cutting into his thoughts. Tao stopped his pacing, somehow ending up into between Sehun’s and Kris’s bedroom doors. Junmyeon stood before him, arms crossed and a worried expression on his face. He was close, only an arms length away, making Tao concerned that he hadn't noticed the others presence. 

“I need you to stop pacing so much, its putting the others on edge.” Junmyeon said softly. “Perhaps you could go see Chanyeol in his room? I think he would love some company, He hasn’t left his room all day.”

Tao stared at Junmyeon, his brain slow to process the request. Chanyeol? Yeah, That wouldn’t be a bad idea. Tao liked the quiet man, and was indeed kinda curious as to what he did in all that time he spent couped up in his room. Slowly Tao nodded his head, before turning and going to said mans room. It only took one knock of the door to open, revealing Chanyeol. As soon as the blue haired male saw Tao, he grinned widely and opened his door to let him in. 

Chanyeols room was similar to size as Sehuns, yet felt so much smaller. His walls were lined with instruments, everything from a drum set, to a guitar, to other similar looking instruments. When it came to music, Tao knew a little. Clearly Chanyeol was much more into it. He also had a massive table covered in computer equipment, many pieces looking strange and covered in buttons. Tao even spotted a few microphones, confirming that Chanyeol must be able to at least speak. 

Chanyeol sat on his bed, picking up one of the guitars and strumming it lightly While looking at Tao. Without even realizing it, Tao had gone back to pacing back in fourth in the tiny space available. Chanyeol looked as if he wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth clamped shut. 

“Why don’t you like talking?” Tao asked, stopped for only a moment before going back to moving. It probably was a rude thing to ask, but Tao didn’t feel like holding back right now. “Do you hate your voice? Or do you have some speech problems?”

From the bed, Chanyeol's eyes widened, clearly not expecting the flood of questions. He remained silent, staring at Tao while thinking. Even his hands hand stopped moving, plunging the room into awkward silence. 

“People get hurt when I speak.” His voice was quiet, so quiet Tao almost missed it amongst his fluttering around the room. He stopped, turning to look at the other. The tall male looked like a kicked puppy, hunched down on the bed and staring at the floor with a sad expression. It hurt, seeing the normally smiley guy looking like this. Chanyeol had been so nice, Tao couldn’t help but feel bad for him.

Tao was no expert, but he couldn't think of any reason someone would harm others just by talking unless they were cursed. And Chanyeol hadn’t said or implied he had been cursed. It must've been pretty bad for him not to even talk around people who were not human and most likely to be less affected. Like whatever Suho had to be was powerful, Why hadn’t he helped the poor guy in any way? 

“I might be able to help you with that, seeing as I’m the resident witch.” Tao said. Chanyeol's head whipped up. “I don’t know the circumstances to your problems, but I’m sure if you tell me a bit more I can make you a bracelet or something that can dull the power of your words so no one gets hurt.”

In all honesty, Tao had no idea how to do such a thing, but something in his head pushed him to say such a thing. Memories flooded in of books he had read in the past, the words so crystal clear he felt as if he could do whatever they asked for. He had always wanted to try enchanting, but never had enough magic to. But now it didn’t seem like some far off daunting task he would never get the chance to even try.

“I don’t think it will be that easy.” Chanyeol said, but there is a look of hope on his face. He shifted in his bed, setting the guitar back to wear it belonged. 

He fiddled around with his hands for a bit before pulling off one of his rings. The room was instantly filled with a bright white light radiating from Chanyeol. Tao looked away until it vanished, surprised at the sight before him. Chanyeol once blue hair was stark white, lacking any sort of color. His eyes were the same, the red now gone leaving him with off putting white eyes. Skin was now a paler color with a sickly gray tone to it. There was something that screamed death about the whole look, and Tao realized Why.

“You’re a banshee.” He said, stunned at the realization. Banshees were super rare, male ones being even rarer since they were considered weaker and less in control of their abilities, often resulting in others killing them. Tao had never seen one in person before, but Irene had told him tales about one she had known back in the day. She had always described her as a ghostly goddess, unable to make pigment or color, yet looking divine all the same. Irene had even shown him a drawing, photo realistic in nature. The woman had indeed looked beautiful, and Chanyeol held a very similar look. It also explained how Chanyeol was able to have such a vibrant hair color without his hair looking like it was dying.

The banshee nodded his head at Tao’s remark, the faintest blush of embarrassment coating his cheeks.

”I don’t have as much control as I’d like to and It’s really hard for me not to be affected by the slightest things, even when someone isn’t even dying and is just hurt. So I don’t chose not to talk. I don’t want to risk people getting hurt because of me again. ” His voice was a little louder now, perhaps due to the fact Tao didn’t seem to be affected by his words. 

“Well, I’ll work extra hard to find a way to help you then. Do you any sort of jewelry that you would like me to use? Something you wear a lot?” Chanyeol nodded again, fiddling around with hands until he removed a different ring he was wearing, a plain silver one. Apparently Chanyeol owned a lot of rings. 

After that, they exchanged a few words before Tao decided to go and try to complete the task he had promised. There was no way he could work on it in his own room, there was no space at all. Sehun’s would be off limits as well in case something went wrong. The room he had practiced with the flower petals came to mind. It had enough space to work in, and would be out of sight from prying eyes. 

Upon entering the room, Tao’s eyes instantly fell upon the flower box from before. The white petals had returned to there unappealing red color. The magic must have worn off, returning them to their less than great state. Poking inside, his beliefs were confirmed when he felt the stiff texture once more. But when he started to pull his hand away, something soft caught him off guard. Digging back in, he managed to pull out one single petal that had not turned back. It didn’t make sense, from what he remembered he had changed them all at the same time. Even if it was affected a few seconds later, it should still have been almost back to its original state by now. 

Tao opted to pocket the petal, figuring he could bother Junmyeon or Yixing and see if they knew anything that would cause it to not revert at the same time.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make sure to check the tags, they have been updated. Also, make sure to not bottle up your feelings kids. It ain't healthy, and will most likely make things worse down the line. You don't gotta suffer alone.

It took three rounds of trial and error for Tao to get the ring to do the desired effect. 

The first time, the magic simply forced Chanyeol’s voice into a constant whisper. Which in turn would lower the chance of him hurting anyone, but they quickly learned even with just whispers, Chanyeol's voice could be deeply damaging. Luckily for Tao, he only got a headache that Yixing was nice enough to heal, at the cost of answering many questions about what he was doing. The older wasn’t against Tao’s idea, but he did warn not to let it go to far since he could only heal so much.

Tao became far too cautious.

The next time had been a complete flop. It completely silenced Chanyeol to anyone who would try to listen. Apparently, he could hear himself just fine, getting excited when he realized he could talk. But for Tao, he heard nothing, he only saw the others mouth move. To verify it wasn’t just a one person thing, Chanyeol went on trying to have conversations with other housemates. He came back to Tao with the saddest frown, slipping the ring back to the younger.

The third round ended up being the best.

When Chanyeol put on the ring he waited, as if it would take time for the effect to kick. Slowly he began to speak, asking if Tao could hear him. Tao nodded. So Chanyeol pushed more, speaking louder and with more inflection in his voice. He put more force in his voice, testing to see if he could do some damage. Nothing occurred to both of their joy.

As a finally test (unbeknownst to Chanyeol) Tao convinced Jongdae to scare Chanyeol as bad as he could. Jongdae ended up flinging himself on Chanyeol as he went to get something from the kitchen, causing the said man to scream so loudly it could wake the dead. But his scream had no effect, no pain came to any who heard it. But Junmyeon did pop out of his room dripping with water to scold the two for being so loud so early in the morning.

Chanyeol became very talkative afterwords, going up to any of the other residents and striking up conversation. He blended in seamlessly with everyone, even managing to collect a hand full of people and get them to play games together. Games that resulted shouting accusations of cheating and using special abilities, but it was progress. Getting four people in the same room for a reason that didn’t involve a fight or someone getting hurt was rare. And even with the arguments, The statements thrown seemed to lack real heat. 

Tao didn’t participate in the session. He hadn’t really been asked to join, but it didn't bother him. There was just something nice about seeing the other being out and getting along, something that made the old house feel more homey. Seeing Jongdae whine because he kept getting hit with draw 4’s in uno, Kyungsoo staring down the others until the gave up in blind Man’s bluff, or Junmyeon and Yixing dominating mafia with minimal communication, it made them seem less like strangers who were rude and more like real people. 

Between games Tao brought out an assortment of things he had cooked up, each time the food vanishing before he had time to bring out the next dish. These people ate a lot, and never seemed to complain about the food. Tao considered asking Kyungsoo if he would want to help out in the kitchen sometimes since he seemed to use it the most. 

As the play bickering went on as uno cards were thrown everywhere, Tao saw Junmyeon smiling to himself amongst the chaos. There was nothing malicious about it, Junmyeon just appeared almost relieved things were going well. 

It made Tao happy to see the nervous man smile, but at the same time something else was there. Tao wasn’t one of them, it wouldn't be as easy for him to waltz in and make any sort of connections. It hadn’t been intentional for him to be left out, Chanyeol was always so nice to Tao, but it still hurt. Deep inside, it reminded him he still didn’t have much more than Sehun.

Tao pushed the thought away just as quickly as the came to his head. It was right to go there, things were going well. Everyone else was having a good time, and he was nothing more than a worker. He forced himself to go back to being happy that the others were getting along. 

Tao was in the kitchen chopping up the vegetables for the stew he wanted to have done by dinner, finding the repetitive task of chopping to help alleviate his anxiety a bit.That has been the main driving force in choosing to make the dish, so much prep work usually would annoy him. He was a bit too into chopping up the carrots when he heard the front door open. The sound made Tao look to the entryway, witnessing a familiar light colored wolf form bolt past the archway connecting the two rooms. Tao could only guess Kris was heading straight to his room, possibly to avoid him. 

It didn’t take long for Sehun to slide into the kitchen, taking a seat at one on one of the barstools at the island. He didn’t hesitate to reach across and snatch up one of the small bit of beef Tao had previously cut and put it in his mouth. 

Tao could feel his face crickle up, hating the idea of eating raw meat. Even if the other was a wolf and wouldn’t be affected, even if he had seen wolves eat raw meat over and over again in human form, he never quite got comfortable with it. But that may have had more to do with the fact he had seen wolves tear apart people right in front of him, then purposely eat them in human form as a sign of domination. A reminder that they were not human, they were a threat, something to be feared. 

Sehun of course wasn’t trying to do any of that, but the memory was still there.

“How was your trip?” Tao asked, picking up most of the remaining meat chunks and putting them in the pot. He left a few to keep Sehun entertained, while moving the rest would secure the protein for the meal. 

“It went really good. We found what we wanted. Kris was a bit more annoying than usual, but he seems to have chilled out.” Sehun said, seemingly satisfied with what Tao left him if the smile on his face said anything.

“What were you guys even doing?” Tao asked. He didn’t miss a beat, tossing the rest of his cutting work into the pot and putting it on the stove with a lid. Sehun’s smile dropped quickly as he shifted in his seat awkwardly, his eyes darting around the room.

“Kris really wanted to go get something, which I can’t tell you. And that isn’t because he said not to tell anyone, I genuinely didn’t see what he got. I was to busy playing around in my wolf form. It’s really hard for me to get into it, so when I turn I kinda get lost in it a bit.” He said, nervousness dripping into his voice. 

Tao didn’t push further, seeing the discomfort on the youngers face as he shifted around in his seat. Wolves who had trouble shifting were often tormented by their peers, other wolves thinking it might force the wolf to shift. Of course it didn’t work like that, but most didn’t care to stop. Tao hoped that Wasn’t what Sehun had to deal with, hoped he wasn’t pushed into. He couldn’t imagine Kris forcing Tao, he would more likely wait until Sehun figured it out. But seeming how young Sehun was, and how he wasn’t in a pack, Tao could only guess thing had not been good at all. 

Speaking of Kris, something had started to irk Tao the more he thought about it. Since Kris had attempted to kill him, Tao hadn’t received a single apology from him of any sort. Everyone else had given one in one form or another, yet Kris had done nothing. Out of all of them, Tao wanted his the most. Kris had been the one to hurt him the most, the one to cause pain. The were both adults, Kris clearly was older. Even if the older was an angry person, he still should have a mind to say something. Tao was sure if he brought it up to Junmyeon, he would force the other to apologize. But Tao didn’t want a forced apology. 

“Tao, I can see you thinking. What’s on your mind?” Sehun’s voice drew Tao back to the kitchen. Sehun was fully looking at him with a bit of concern. His eyes on Tao’s face, truly warning Tao that he was worried since he hated eyes contact. 

“Kris never apologized.”

Tao’s voice was quiet, yet there was a hint of anger to it. Sehun’s mouth went into an ‘o’ shape as his eyes shifted away. Tao couldn’t stop the words from flooding out

“He took the time to go out and do who knows what, yet he couldn’t even scrape together an apology for me. I still have nightmares Sehun, nightmares that have me clawing at the mark. I can’t sleep, I can barely be around anyone without feeling on edge. I feel as if he had just said, something, some of the pain would go away. Some of the doubts. I have so much going on right now, The black outs, my family, being stuck here, I just need a break. I haven’t been able to sleep since you left, or eat, or sit still. I can’t take this.” 

Sehun began to look panicked as Tao broke down into tears. He had always tried so hard to keep himself contained, to only let himself fall while in the safety of his or Sehun’s room. But he couldn’t hold back this time. His breath became ragged and loud as he began to shake.

Maybe it had been a mistake to push his feelings away over and over again, to force himself to feel numb. No he just wanted to go away.

Everything was piling up all at one in his mind. Just the small request for a sorry ending up dragging his mind all the way to the tortured memories of the pack house, the distress they enjoyed causing. Being forced to watch people die, and sit there with the body until being given permission to “clean up the mess.”

The fear of waking up after losing time,never knowing when it would hit again, never knowing what would happen during that time.

The deep waters of the river that day, seemingly light and pretty until it happened. Untill Xaio vanished in the water. 

Irene lying in the street dead.

Having his throat torn out.

Those two women. 

Feeling alone.

Pain.

Things had been so good only hours earlier. Everyone's laughter had been so sweet, but now it only remeinding Tao that he himself wasn’t that happy. 

How could things go from being happy to see Sehun to wanting to disappear from existence to avoid his problems? The anxiety had left only to come back a far worse and with something else. He wanted it to stop. He wanted the feelings to go away.

Through his tears Tao saw the knife. A sturdy chef's knife, Tao had only sharpened it only hours before. It would work well enough.

Irene would be so disappointed. Hell, Tao was disappointed in himself. But his mind wasn’t in the right place.

It hurt more than he anticipated. 

The next events were a blur. There was the sound of thundering footsteps. Sehun was screaming something that sounded like Junmyeon’s name as he lunged over the counter towards Tao. Someone came behind him, pulling the knife away. 

It hurt.

Everything Hurt.

Then everything was gone.


	15. Chapter 15

Junmyeon had not been prepared for the scene that graced his eyes upon entering the kitchen. 

It wasn’t as if he had been expecting anything good since it had been Sehun’s scream to draw him down there, but he hadn’t anticipated for it to be so horrific either. Before even entering the room he had been able to smell the blood, triggering vivid memories of the incident that had happened before. 

Sehun sat on the floor shaking badly held Tao in his arms. Kris was beside him with a dish towel in hand, pushing down on the open wounded in an attempt to slow the bleeding. 

Junmyeon first thought was tell scold Kris, tear him a new one for starting things again. Yet again he had done something and Tao was possibly dying. Had he really learned nothing? But as he moved closer, he saw the bloody knife and the wound and put two and two together. Kris wouldn’t have thought to do such a thing, he was always a hands on person.

When Junmyeon tried to move closer, Kris’s head snapped up and he let out the most threatening growl Junmyeon had ever witnessed from the other. His eyes narrowed on Junmyeon, glowing the unsettling gold it did when his wolf side would start to come out. Instantly Junmyeon moved back, putting his arms in front of himself as a sign of submission.

“What in the fuck did you do to him while we were gone?” Kris snarled. 

“I don’t know-” Junmyeon started, but was quickly cut off. 

“Don’t give me that shit. He was fine when we left, I checked myself. You fucking did something.” Kris snapped at him, his eyes darting back at Tao as he adjusted the towel. The original light blue color could no longer be seen, the whole towle was drenched in red. 

There was no way he would be taking that crap from Kris. Anyone else, maybe he would let them argue their case. But Kris? No.

“You don’t have the right to make such accusations towards me, Kris. I’m not the one who tried to hurt him before.” Junmyeon snapped, his voice coming out much more vicious than he even though it could. Sehun visibly flinched and pulled Tao closer to him, his eyes snapping up. His brown iris’s now had noticeable gold rings. 

Kris growled at Junmyeon. 

Junmyeon took another step back, realizing his mistake. Now both wolves saw him as a threat, Sehun now not even wanting him to come closer to help. This upset him even more, Kris’s actions had now turned Sehun against him.

“I’m calling Jinyoung.” Yixing voice cut into the tense atmosphere, causing all eyes to go towards him. Somehow, he had managed to wrap his arms around Junmyeon’s waist without him noticing. Recognizing his touch instantly calmed Junmyeon down, simmering down the anger that had built up over the fight.

Junymeon was confused as to how he had managed to do that, and why Jinyoung was need. Sure, this was really bad, but Jinyoung wasn’t a healer, he couldn’t do healing magic. It would be far more effective for Yixing to step in and help. As usual Yixing somehow knew exactly what he was thinking. He nodded towards Tao. “Look at his eyes, Junmyeon.” 

Junmyeon looked back at Tao and noticed that his eyes were open, and once again distinctly purple and hazy. 

That was bad. Really bad.

Junmyeon felt Yixing pull him back slightly the slip away. Soon he heard Yixing softly talking on the phone, but he couldn’t pick up what the other was saying. At a loss of what to do, Junmyeon simply watched as Sehun muttered apologies over and over again to Tao while he tried his best to wipe some of the blood off with another washcloth.Kris kept applying pressure to the wound, occasionally letting his eyes flick up and glare at Junmyeon. 

When in the world had Kris cared so much and Junmyeon become the bad guy?

“They said they will be over soon and to set Tao up in the infirmary while we wait.” Yixing’s calmly stated as he came back into the room. Junmyeon attempted to step forward again to help, but Yixing quickly grabbed his arm to stop him.

“Let them do it.” Yixing said. Junmyeon looked at him questioningly, but Yixing gave him nothing to work with. Very slowly Kris got up, lifting Tao from Sehun as if he were the most fragile thing ever to exist. As they made their way to the infirmary, Yixing made sure to keep Junmyeon at a distance. Every time they got the slightest bit to close, Kris would let out a low growl of warning while Sehun would glare at them.

The good news was the bleeding had seemed to stop, no trails of blood were to be seen like last time. But the amount of blood in the kitchen was rather worrisome. And someone would have to clean it. 

Upon reaching the small room, Kris gently placed Tao on the bed as Sehun collected a small container with water and a rag. Junmyeon watched with interest as Kris took the pillows and blankets from the other bed and placed them around Tao in an obvious attempt to make him more comfortable. Sehun found his place in the chair next to the bed, setting the bowl on the small end table and starting the process of cleaning up Tao more.  
It was while Kris was making some final adjustments when Chanyeol finally emerged from the upstairs, a clear look of panic on his face.It was a good sign, chanyeol had yet to make any sounds, meaning Tao wasn't dying. His condition was horrible, but he couldn’t have been worse.

As Chanyeol joined the others at the door frame, his eyes became wide upon noticing Tao’s state. He tried steppig in the room, but was instantly met with a pissed off Kris.

“No. Nobody is allowed in this room.” He said, baring his canines. Chanyeol jolted backwards, not wanting to risk getting attacked. 

“Kris, Let me help, you know I can heal him.” Yixing said calmly, but he made no attempt to move into the room. “He needs help.”

Clearly Kris’s wolf side was taking over, protecting Tao from any threat. Yixing could only guess it had to do with Sehun and Tao’s bond. If Tao was hurt, Sehun would be hurt, therefore Tao now Tao was to be protected as well. Getting in the way of the wolves that were in protective mode was dangerous. Even Junmyeon with Junmyeon being more powerful than the wolves, it would be foolish to test boundaries. They didn’t need more people getting hurt.

Kris shook his head. “He doesn’t want your help.” he said, his voice surprisingly even and firm. His eyes shifted between the three, making it clear that he meant all of them. 

“You don’t know that.” Yixing said. Sehun looked up from where he was working on Tao, shaking his head silently. He did a waving motion at the people in the hall, indicating they should go.

“I do know that, now get lost.” Kris said, and proceeded to close the door of them.

Left with no other choice, the three retreated to the living room. 

\------

“You know, if you are going to treat your witch like shit, you should at least use precautionary measures so shit like this doesn’t happen. That’s what everyone else does.” Jaebum’s words cut deep, the male really wasn’t one for sugar coating things. The moment the front door had opened and his pack had filled in, Jaebum had spilled his thoughts. As if they knew the storm that was about to happen, all his other packmates seemed to vanish other than Jinyoung and Yugyeom. 

“Excuse me?” Junmyeon asked, the shock clear in his voice. What in the hell was Jaebum talking about? Junmyeon had been trying his best to treat Tao nicely. Not only did he rarely made requests of him, let him let him do whatever he wanted. There were a list of chores, yes, but it wasn’t that much. Not to mention, He had even given him clothing as gifts when he had noticed the younger had nothing. 

“I’m just pointing out a fact.” Jaebum said. “I’m not going to openly judge you if you want to go the route everyone else uses.”

“Maybe we should check on Tao first before we start picking fights.” Jinyoung stated softly, stopping Junmyeon from asking questions. He lightly grabbed Jaebums’s arm and started to walk to the infirmary. He had only been there a handful of times, but Jinyoung had an amazing memory and was able to easily find the room. Only Kris and Tao were in the room. Junmyeon, who had reluctantly trailed after the pair along with Yixing and Yugyeom, seemed shocked at Sehun’s absence. 

No one made an attempt to go in the room, knowing Kris would act up the moment someone would try to enter. Over the last hour various people had tried to get in and help, but the wolves had denied them all entry. Sehun had nipped at a bold Jongdaewho had just walked in. Luhan had better luck, being allowed to hand over some clothes for Tao to be changed into. But he had been quickly kicked out after.

“Kris, look at me.” Jaebum command, and Kris instantly looked at him. His eyes were still gold, but fleck of brown could be seen. “You need to let us in to check on him.” 

The two looked at each other in silence, Kris processing his request. When Kris had ended up going to the Sunshine house, Jaebum had been the one whom he had gotten his session with. It wasn’t like they were friends, or that Kris even trusted him. But Kris didn’t have negative feelings towards the others. The same thing could be said about members of his own household.

“He doesn’t want their help.” Kris repeated the same statement from before, this time his words held less bite. His eyes flickered to Junmyeon and Yixing as a frown formed on his face. Junmyeon felt upset but the rejection, but he hadn’t really expected Kris’s feeling to change in only an hour.

“So we are okay for coming in?” Jaebum asked. For a moment Kris hesitated, before nodding his head. 

Once in the room, the witch Yugyeom quickly made his way over to the bed and started inspecting Tao. Jinyoung was close behind, but only stood off to the side to observe. Tao’s eyes were still open and glazed over, the purple color still there. No blood was to be seen, His wound was properly patched up now and his clothes were now changed. The scent of blood was still in the air, and Tao’s pale complexion showed he wasn’t doing so good.

“Did his eyes turn purple before or after he did this to himself?” Jinyoung asked as Yugeom traced something in the air over Tao. His movements were slow and small, as if he were writing something.

“Sehun said it happened after.” Junmyeon answered from the door. “But before Kris got there.”

The air Yugeom had drawn in took the faintest blue glow, causing the symbols he had drawn to appear. The teen frowned, before pushing down against the glowing marks gently. After going down the slightest bit, the glowing faded and the mark vanished. Yugeom tried the same thing again, drawing in the air and even darker blue glowing marks that appeared for only moments, then vanishing. 

“It’s protection magic. It very powerful, But it isn’t from him” Yugeom said, looking at Jinyoung. “Well, it’s coming from him, but he isn't doing it willingly. I don’t think it originates with him.”

“So he can’t control it?” Jinyoung asked. He looked over to Jaebum, who was focused on studying Kris, not Tao. There was a small frown on Jaebum’s face, but his eyes were filled with interest, not worry. Kris was hovering near the bed, staring intensely at Yugyeom as if the younger made one wrong move, he pounce.

“Not at all. It’s so strong I can't even use healing magic on him, he is completely rejecting it.” Yugeom paused for a moment, before looking back to Tao. “ I don’t think anyone can help,But the good news is he appears to be self healing. We just have to wait for it to do it’s thing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate to be that guy, but comments motivate me to keep working on this. And its just nice to see people point things out that they notice or like. Also they help me figure out which series or story people want more from. So if you want to comment, that's cool. If you don't want to, that cool too.


	16. Chapter 16

“We need to talk.”

Junmyeon looked up to see Jaebum standing above him. Hours had passed since Jaebum’s people had finished examining Tao, and they had moved to the living room as there wasn’t much they could do. Yixing sat next to him quietly reading, While Yugeom and Jinyoung sat on the adjacent sofa. They were quietly taking to each other, both on their tablets. Ever since they had gotten a rough idea of what was going on with Tao, the two had taken to looking for any information that may help.

There wasn’t much out there, it wasn’t like creatures such as them could post information about themselves. There were a few hidden forums, but they didn’t have much. Most creatures didn’t want to share information, they didn’t want to give any information that could give them a disadvantage. 

When everyone had moved to the living room, Jaebum had elected to stay and talk to Kris. An ‘in house’ session he had called it, and Kris had willingly accepted it. 

Junmyeon stood up, following Jaebum up the stairs. They ended up in a tiny room, with a small bed, single dresser and tiny closet. Jaebum sat on the bed, staring up at Junmyeon expectantly. Junmyeon didn’t get it.

“Are you aware of whose room this is?” Junmyeon looked around the room, confused. Clearly it was lived in, the blankets were out of place and there were a few things hanging in the tiny closet. Junmyeon didn’t assign the rooms, and he wouldn’t have assigned such a small space to anyone. 

Then it hit him. The room placement. The left wing, last room on the right. This was Tao’s room.

“I’m going to keep this part short because I understand you're not intentionally trying to ruin anything.” Jaebum said, folding his hands in his lap. A very serious expression took over his face as he continued. “You either need to go all in with your witch. You either need to put him in his place and treat him fully like tool, or treat him as one of your own. Treating him this mixed way only makes it bad for everyone. If you have an interest in fully using him, I know people you can go talk to restrict him. Make him some emotionless drones that you won’t have to worry about.”

Junmyeon looked at Jaebum with absolute horror, completely taken aback that the other would even suggest such an option. It wasn’t any secret that witches were treated poorly, but he didn’t think Jaebum would go so far as to suggest Junmyeon would even think about doing something so horrible to one. 

“Are you insane? I would never want that for anyone.” Junmyeon said. 

“Then work on treating your witch as one of your own. For goodness sake Junmyeon, this isn’t a room. This is a closet. He need a space where he can feel comfortable and make it his own. And don’t even get me started on the gifts. Pay him, give him some sort of independence.”

He took note of everything that Jaebum was saying. Although Junmyeon didn’t know Yugeom well, he appeared to be functioning well and seemed to be happy. Never heard of something going wrong with the teen, nor had he heard a complaint about him. Of course, he was younger so he didn’t do much, but he still helped out. Not in the ways Tao did. While Tao seemed to be adept at house work and used little magic, Yugyeom already was noted to be exceptional at protection magic and healing. And he helped around the office, doing random small tasks.

“Anything else you suggest?” 

“Round up your little family and work on treating each other better. Sehun has told plenty about how awkward you all are together. You can’t have a pack that doesn’t trust each other, it will become unstable and internal conflict will arise and tear the group apart. It hard, I get it, but you need to push more.” 

Junmyeon sighed, running a hand through his hair while doing so. He knew he needed to work on the group, but it had become even more difficult when Tao had arrived. And he didn’t want to be the type of leader who used his power as a way to get people to do what he wanted. He wanted his family to want to get to know each other, he wanted them to want to become closer. Forcing them wasn’t really his thing, but maybe it was time to start pushing it more. 

Kris, Luhan and Sehun seemed to get along fine. Although He had caught Luhan and Kris arguing one too many times. Minsoek and Jongdae also seemed to be close, but Jongdae managed to annoy most of the others with his whining. Chanyeol was friendly, but would often kept to himself in his room. Though he did seem to be much more vocal and excitable now. Kyungsoo also seemed to avoid the others, preferring to stay away. 

Yixing was able to talk to all of them with ease, something Junmyeon was quite jealous of. Although he was drawn to Yixing. There was just something comforting with how calm and happy he always was. He would be integral to getting everyone together.

“But I am more worried about something else.” Jaebum’svoice cut into Junmyeon thought, bringing him back.

“What is it?”

“Kris.” Jaebum said slowly, shifting in his spot to lean against the wall. He looked to be deep in thought, trying to put the pieces of something together. Something Junmyeon constantly tried to do himself when it came to Kris. 

“That’s a fair thing to worry about, He has been acting out a lot more.” Junmyeon pointed out. Jaebum looked at Junmyeon when he said those words, a small frown on his lips.

“Was he as aggressive with your previous witches?” 

“Not more than he was to the rest of us.” Junmyeon though back to the other witches they had. Kris hadn’t really participated in messing with the others, only growling when they got in his way and occasionally snapping at them. Most of his time was spent in wolf form, keeping himself out of the way. He had only turned to his human to talk since growling and other wolf sounds could only get him so far. Kris also would turn back when Sehun asked him, which was usually on behalf of Junmyeon. 

At Junmyeon words, Jaebum seemed to go even deeper into thought. He said nothing for a few minutes as Jinmyeon stood there awkwardly, trying somehow read Jaebum’s mind. Junmyeon could do many things, but mind reading wasn’t one. But he could hope.

“I would suggest leaving him be for the time being.” Jaebum said, standing up. “I see him switching from attacking Tao of protecting him as an improvement. I wouldn’t risk ruining that.” 

“That’s it?” Junmyeon asked, expecting more. With how hard Jaebum had been thinking, he had expected some sort of big revelation. 

“Yes.” He said, his eyes shifting away from Junmyeon for the briefest moment. But Junmyeon noticed. “Now if you would excuse me, My pack needs to head back now. There’s really nothing any of us can do here at the time.”

\-------------------

Well over a week had passed and Tao had still not ‘woken’ up. 

According to Sehun, Tao was in good condition now. The wound was completely gone and Tao looked a healthy color. It was rather amazing how he could go days without eating when in this state, yet heal just fine. 

Things with Kris hadn’t gotten any better. While Sehun had stopped trying to keep Junmyeon and the others away by the third day, Kris hadn’t given up. Luhan was now permitted to spend extended amounts of time in the room when Sehun was there, but that was about it. Kris would occasionally leave, typically heading to his room for only a short amount of time before going right back to the infirmary. 

Junmyeon hadn’t the slightest idea what Kris was doing in his room. His clothes never changed when he came out, Sehun would bring down clothes and he would change in the bathroom connected to the infirmary. He didn’t leave to eat, Luhan would typically bring food that Kyungsoo had cooked up. Kyungsoo had become a rather good cook in the short amount of time, egged on by the others since most were disasters in the kitchen.

It seemed as if they were expecting Tao to out of it again for a long time, so they had started doing the things he normally would. They may have been less effective, but it seemed Tao had inadvertently made it so they had to take care of themselves. The first time Tao had been out of it, the house had fallen into ruin until Yixing taken a break from his work in fill in what he could. Out of all of them, he had the most normal upbringing so he could do things, but not the volume needed when there were a large number of other ready to make more of a mess.

Junmyeon found himself overly stressed about the situation. He needed to talk things out, working on getting everyone together and make things work. There was so much he needed to do, but he didn’t feel as if he couldn’t do it with Tao being like this. He was such a failure, not noticing how bad things were for Tao. For not working harder to make the group more like a family. There was no reason for him to be in charge, his leadership was lacking. 

As a result of the overflow of emotions, Junmyeon spent a lot of his time in the pound that he and Yixing had built in the room. He even found himself sleeping in it, something he hadn’t done since they had first built it and he wasn’t quiet comfortable with beds yet. 

The water moved softly due to the small waterfall they had built into to bring more life to the area. It also added comfort, Junmyeon had grown up around continually moving waters. He slowly sunk down further into the water, until he was completely submerged. He let his eyes flutter close and his mind clear. It was always easier when he felt relaxed.

Junmyeon inhaled the water, letting it fill him. Slowly he felt himself shift, becoming one with the water yet something completely different at the same time. He no longer was human, no features could be seen of him unless he allowed himself to shift back. That was the last thing he wanted, right now all he wanted was to simply exist as he was, in his true form. In a state where he wouldn’t have to think, he could just focus on the water and wait.

\--------------

Yixing wasn’t the slightest bit surprised to find Junmyeon’s room ‘empty’ when he decided it was time to check on the other. Any other person would walk in and assume he wasn’t there and move on. The others only vaguely knew of what Junmyeon was, so they wouldn’t know what to look for. But Yixing knew well enough what Junmyeon was, what he liked to do.

It also helped that the pound had the faintest iridescent glow to it, the source of it being a patch of water near the bottom.

He made his way over to the water, dipping his fingers into the water.The temperature of the water was a tad bit cold, but it wasn’t likely to bother Junmyeon. Where as the elder could get to cold or to warm, when it came to water he didn’t seem to care. Yixing had witnessed him stick his hand in boiling water more than once without being fazed. On the flip side, Junmyeon had also gone into a frozen lake before.

The patch of iridescent water made no movement. There was a chance Junmyeon had fallen asleep.

“Junmyeon,” He called out softly, wiggling his fingers softly in the water, “Come back to me please.” Very slowly the section of the water started to move, gliding through the water until it surrounded his hand. This part of the water felt much warmer, and a small amount of pressure could be felt on his fingers. Yixing submerged the rest of his hand in the water, and the feeling changed from pressure on his fingertips shifted to a pressure surrounding his entire hand. 

He pulled his hand out of the water, and the water pulled up unnaturally with him as a formless blob still connected to the pound. Then the water around his hand began to take the shape of a hand. Soon the hand was linked to an arm, the shoulder, and quickly an entire humanoid made of water climbed out of the water. The water moved continuously, dripping on the floor as Junmyeon features became more present in the shape.

Slowly Junmyeon was able to pull himself into his human form, everything looked picture perfect. His skin was dripping wet as if he had just come out of the water, but otherwise one wouldn’t have been able to tell he had just been water. Slowly the elder blinked before smiling softly at Yixing. He looked exhausted, dark circles prominent under his eyes. He must have not been sleeping, but zoning out. 

Yixing reached out, softly cupping Junmyeons face. The others expression instantly relaxed as Yixing started to work his healing magic. It wasn’t much, but it would be enough to soothe Junymeon until he could get some proper sleep. 

“Why did you call me out?” Junmyeon asked. Yixing pulled his hands away.

Ah yes, he had a point to coming up here. As much as he loved to watch Junmyeon do anything, especially shift forms, there was something else that needed to be done. 

“Tao’s woken up.”


	17. Chapter 17

Something was very wrong with Tao, but Sehun couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Only a short while ago Tao had sat up as if nothing had happened and went on with life. They were currently in the kitchen, Tao insisting on cooking up a giant meal for everyone to share despite Kris’s protests, But Tao had only shook him off with a laugh.

A laugh.

Before Tao had been crying over Kris not apologizing, But now he was laughing at the other in a playful way. It was kind of funny, Kris’s completely baffled expression, his mouth slightly open as his frown furrowed. Seeing Kris genuinely confused was a rare sight to see, if the situation was so odd Sehun wouldn’t hesitate to snap a picture of the others face. It would be good black mail for next time Kris tried to get in his business too much. 

Despite the fact that Tao was up on his feet and acting chipper, Sehun did know one of the glaringly obvious problems with the whole situation. 

Tao’s eyes were still bright purple.

According to Kris, Tao had before walked around with his eyes purple so it wasn’t anything groundbreaking but the last time he had been filled with anger. Now, he seemed to simply dance around the kitchen and enjoy himself, smiling more than Sehun thought possible. It was a complete 180, and Sehun wished he could fully enjoy seeing his friend happiness, but he couldn’t. 

It felt wrong.

When Kris seemed to regain his composure, he turned to Sehun. “I need to go check on something. Keep an eye on him.” He said, looking back over to Tao with pursed lips. Sehun nodded, having no intention of leaving Tao alone at the time. With what happened, Sehun didn’t trust Tao alone in the kitchen. 

Kris slipped out of the kitchen and assumedly to his room to finish whatever he had been working on. Probably another painting, Kris had been working on a few last time Sehun and went into his room to take something. Despite Kris’s either ‘too cool for that’ or ‘fuck off attitude’ Sehun had witness the other make the most beautiful art. He even had a few pieces hanging in his room.

Sehun didn’t have time to think of what to say now that Kris was go, for Luhan was quick to slide into the kitchen and take the stool next to him. Sehun smiled, Luhan was always easy to talk to when he wasn’t being an ass, and Sehun would take the backup incase something went down with Tao. 

“His eyes are so weird. I can’t help but get chills every time I look at him.” The older comment as he watched Tao stirr something on the stove top. Sehun rolled his eyes over the obvious comment. Inhuman eyes color’s didn’t bother them, werewolves and vampires both would take on unnatural colors. But just knowing why Tao’s eyes turned such a color made they whole thing worse.

Tao tasted whatever he was making, frowned, then pulled of a few spices and added them into his creation. Luhan continued to make small talk, Tao occasionally cutting in and Sehun only half paying attention. 

“I think when the weather gets better we should buy a tennis net or something. It would be nice to do something athletic other than swimming.” Luhan complained, resting his chin in his palm as he leaned on the counter. “You can’t even use the pool without Jongdae trying to mess with you.”

Sehun hummed in response, not really a fan of sports. 

“I think setting up a basketball hoop might be nice too. It’s been awhile since I’ve had the chance to play.” Tao said, turning and looking at the pair at the kitchen island. He pointed his stirring spoon at them, surprisingly nothing dripped off the utensil. “Although I’m not sure it would be fair for me playing against anyone here. You guys get natural advantages.”

“Hey, I would play fair!” Luhan answered, frowning. “Besides, If Minseok or Yixing were to join, it would even things out. They both suck.” 

“Don’t you and Minseok play soccer occasionally together?” Sehun chimed in, narrowing his eyes at Luhan. He had seen the two playing it together more than once, resulting in many small injuries, destroyed balls and huffing from Junmyeon. “It’s kinda a low blow to insult him like that.”

“Don’t get me wrong, He is very skilled at soccer, but he doesn’t have enhanced speed or strength or anything really. He’s is a cat.”

A laugh came from Tao, but cut off mid sound drawing both of the others attention back to him. Tao stared ahead of him blankly, his body rigid. But what had to be most concerning were his eyes. They looked darker and more dull, taking on a burgundy color. 

“Tao?” Sehun called out softly, getting up from his seat. The movement seemed to snap Tao out of whatever was going on, his eyes reverting back to purple when he blinked. He went right back to cooking, humming as he checked on something in the oven. Sehun and Luhan ooked at eachother, clearly unsure if they should say anything. This was new.

After a few minutes, Tao turned to the two with a small smile. “Can you set the table and call everyone, It nearly done.” Luhan nodded and got up. From the whole time he had been there, Sehun couldn’t think of one time where everyone had eaten together. He wasn’t even sure if everyone would agree. But Luhan was nice enough to take the task of collecting everyone and leaving Sehun to set the table.

It didn’t take long for the others to trickle into the dinning room, each person wearing a similarly confused expression. Tao seemed unbothered, weaving with way through the people and setting dish after dish on the table. He had gone all out, the entire center of the table covered in food. There was little space between each dish, and from the looks of it he had managed to make something that everyone could eat.

When everyone was seated, Sehun found himself between Kris and Tao. Junmyeon sat across from Tao, his usual worried expression etched on his face. The atmosphere was tense, nobody really talking but silently eating. Tao would occasionally encourage someone to eat more, cutting into the silence. But other then that, things remained awkward. 

It was going to be a long night.

\--------

Sehun found himself, Kris and Tao seated in the food court of the mall, waiting for Junmyeon and Yixing to return. After everything that had happened, Yixing had apparently decided to get fake legal documents and Junmyeon and him had decided to go car shopping. Sehun had a hunch it was due to Tao still being off and the elders worried about how much longer it would last. Yixing had even drove them to Town, despite with Tao insisting he was good to drive. 

Surprisingly, none of the humans seemed to bat an eyelash add Tao’s odd eyes color, most commenting on how cool his contacts were. Tao seemed to relish in the attention, smiling brightly at the few compliments he got with Kris only looked annoyed. He appeared so full of life, completely unbothered by everything. 

Now, As Sehun sat at the table sipping on a bubble tea he had coerced Kris into getting him, he questioned if there really was anything wrong with Tao’s behavior. Tao was happy and social now, even if it did feel a bit weird at times. The last few nights he had managed to sleep through the entire night, not even moving around that much.The only changes Sehun could find were positive ones, so would it really be that bad to let him stay like this?

Okay, maybe his freezing up every once and a while and staring into the void wasn’t a positive addition, but it didn’t seem to be bad either. It would only happen briefly, not seeming to have any side effects.

Beside Sehun, Tao played around on his new phone as he ate. Kris sat in front of the two of them, not doing much other then staring at Tao every once in a while with a look of confusion. Kris had been very vocal with Sehun, insisting something was very wrong with the whole thing, even though he couldn’t seem to figure out what. But seeing Tao freeze up did make Kris even more convinced. 

Once Tao finished his noodles, he excused himself to the bathroom, leaving Sehun and Kris alone.

A girl approached their table only moments later, and Sehun instantly felt himself on alert. He picked off a familiar yet slightly different scent off her, the scent of nature, the scent of a wolf. Looking at her, Sehun could tell she was another shifter. She was pretty with a sharp look, clearly fit and well kept. Sehun hadn’t ever ran into another wolf shifter outside his ex pack, so he wasn’t sure how to react. He looked over to see Kris on his phone, not giving any attention to the lady.

“Hi.” The girl greeted, offering a bottled drink to Kris. It appeared to be some kind of juice in a fancy glass bottle. It must have cost a lot. “Would it be alright if I sat with you guys?”

Kris glanced up at her for a moment, before shaking his head. The girl frowned, her face becoming flustered. Sehun would be embarrassed to, getting a courting gift rejected. 

The first gift was typically food when it came to courting, especially at first meetings. It was seen as a sign you could provide and take care of the other wolf. Sehun had seen many a time a bold wolf try to court Kris in the old pack, Kris never being the one to make the first move. Every time Kris would accept the gift while telling said wolf he wasn’t interested, only seeming to edge the others on further. They would think his lack of interest was cool, and that he was asking him to prove they were worth it. 

Kris had always been the ideal wolf, tall, well built with an intimidating aura and a handsome face. He was great at hunting, could build and craft things and could shift within moments when he wanted. Some wolves had been heavily put off by his personality, but many women had only seemed to be drawn in more with it. Thinking they could ‘be the one to change him.’ Sehun called bull, them completely missing key points of Kris’s personality. They were stuck in there head about what they thought he was like.

With all that said, Kris had never before rejected the gift. It was considered very rude or insulting if you weren’t mated. It was as if you were saying ‘you gift isn’t worth my time and neither are you’ or something of the equivalent. So it say Sehun’s interest were peaked at the moment would have been an understatement. The whole situation enthralled him.

“Umm,” the woman mumbled, her face turning more red as she looked over her shoulder to a man and a woman standing a small distance away who were observing the whole exchange. They had to be her packmates. She then looked to Sehun for help, but all he could do was shrug and sip on his bubble tea. This was new to him too, he couldn’t save her even if he wanted to. 

“I’m sorry.” The woman said, bowing slightly before running off to her friends, looking on the verge of crying. The two other wolves gave Kris a dirty look before the three walked off, the other lady comforting the upset woman. Sehun turned his attention back to Kris, who was completely unbothered by what just happened at was looking at something on his phone.

Tao returned just in time for Junmyeon to call and say everything was good and they could go home now. 

“What was that for back there? You made her cry.” Sehun asked Kris, nudging him with his elbow as they walked to the entrance. Kris looked confused for a moment, then proceeded to wear a very familiar frown.

“I wasn’t interested. You should know that by now.” Kris answered. He then proceeded to speed walk to the exit, an attempt to avoid any further questions Sehun could ask. Sehun huffed, but didn’t press further.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading


	18. Chapter 18

Something felt off.

It was hard to explain. Tao wanted to say nothing felt real, but that wasn’t right. Of course things were real. His actions had consequences. Like the chicken he had left in the oven on accent, it had nearly caught the house on fire. The smoke, he could smell it distinctly and feel it make his eyes sting. But even so, he couldn’t find it in himself to worry about it. In the end, Junmyeon appeared and put out the fire while Tao had just stood by, watching the flames ruin the food.

Talking to the others had become easy. Anytime he wanted he could hunt one down and strike up a conversation with no worries which seemed off. Like now, with Chanyeol. The two of them were seated in the game room, a bit of space between them on the sofa as Chanyeol typed away on his phone with a silly smile on his face. Today his hair was pink, and his eyes were white. A good look in Tao’s opinion, but Chanyeol had looked at him oddly when he had voiced it earlier. 

For the past ten minutes, Chanyeol had been glued to his phone and ignoring the tv playing some old movie. Over that short amount of time, Tao had watched as Chanyeol shifted his expression over and over, but always remaining some sort of happy or nervous. The other emotional journey had quickly become much more interesting the what was playing on the tv. 

“Who are you talking to?” Tao asked, scooting a bit closer to the other. Chanyeol instantly looked at him, his eyes blown wide with surprise. Quickly he hid his phone in his lap. “You seem to really like them.

“Just someone I know.” Chanyeol said, scooting back. “Nothing too important.” Tao grinned, finding his actions interesting. From all the books he had read, Tao figured either Chanyeol was hiding something or acting like a schoolgirl with a crush. Taking into consideration all the expressions Chanyeol had shown, Tao could easily guess which it was.

“Are you going to ask them out?” He Tao asked. The others eyes instantly widened.

“What? No! I can’t.” Chanyeol sputtered out, his face tinting read. Tao could help but chuckle at his reaction, obviously hitting the nail on the head. 

“Why not?” 

Chanyeol looked back down at his phone, a small from forming on his face. “Well…” He sighed deeply, tapping his fingers on the case nervously. The other seemed to be contemplating on whether to share more, which to Tao’s luck he did. “He’s human. It wouldn’t be a good idea.”

Oh. Tao rubbed his hand over the scar on his neck, trying to think of what to tell the other.

That could have been seen as a problem. Dating and courting was rare with other types, let alone with humans. Only witches really ended up with humans since they were considered so close to them. But Tao didn’t see any problem with courting humans. As long as you Chanyeol was careful and made sure to not throw it all out there at once, things could work out. And if they didn’t, Tao could figure out something. Magic was a mysterious thing. 

“You should at least try still. If you really do like him, I think you could make it work out. And if you are worried about your voice, you haven’t been having any problems, right?” Chanyeol nodded, seeming to perk up a bit at Tao’s words. “He seems to make you happy, so give it a chance, go get him.” Tao finished, patting Chanyeol knee and giving him a supportive smile. 

Chanyeol smiled back at him, before looking down at his phone and typing something out. Within moments the phone started vibrating like crazy. Chanyeol quickly answered it while standing up. Tao gave him a thumbs up as the other walked away, clearly wanting to figure things out by himself. That was more than okay with Tao, since checking his watch it was almost time for Junmyeon to appear so they could go out.

Every since his eyes had turned purple, Tao had no longer been allowed to drive. It was rather annoying, since he could still drive perfectly fine. Just because his eyes were different didn’t mean he was different, he was still fully capable. The restriction annoyed Tao, but it quickly vanished from his mind upon remembering that Junmyeon had said they could go to the book store today after they went to the specialty store.

As if he were summoned, Junmyeon appeared in the door frame, pulling on his coat. He stared at Tao for a moment, studying his face. Something he always did know, although Tao didn’t get why. He smiled at the older, which seemed to appease him as he stopped staring and instead told Tao it was time to head out.

The specialty store was not in the city, but instead two hours out in a small town called Bridgeport located more towards the mountains. Tao had never been there, but he knew of it. Irene had mentioned it before in passing, being one of the neutral areas for all creatures. Fighting of any sort was forbidden, the area was to only be used for trade.

Never had Tao thought he would go there, there was no reason for him to go. Potion making had been the bane to existence, despite how good of a cook he was. Making food was easy, brewing elixirs had been a chore.It might have had to due with his lack of magical talents, but potion making wasn’t easy even for someone skilled. Even Irene seemed to struggle with it, and Irene had been good at everything.

Nevertheless, Tao was excited to see what was in store in Bridgeport. 

\-------

Watching Tao get into the back seat of a vehicle with Kris was still a jarring sight, but after so many times they had learned not to question it. Kris had shown little aggression towards the younger since the incident so Junmyeon had no reason to worry, but a small part of him wished Tao would still act nervous around the wolf. It would help things seem more normal, like Tao wasn’t taken over by some magic none of them understood. Even with Tao seeming fine, Junmyeon couldn’t help but feel guilty still.

Bridgeport appeared the same as Junmyeon remembered, a small Town split in half by a river. IT was one of those towns where you had had to know of it to find it, it was practically hidden meaning finding it on accident was highly unlikely. With the Mountain range on one side and a thick forest surrounding it, it was the perfect place for creatures to reside out of the eyes of humans. 

Most of the buildings were well over a hundred years old, some remaining the same while others received upgrades occasionally. You could find the old off the grid tavern right next to the convenience store that looked just as old but inside had all the accommodations of modern life. The contrast was needed to make everyone happy, while some creatures were fine with adapting and enjoying the perks of modern technology, others wanted nothing to do with it. From Junmyeon knowledge, he was was on only of his own species to adapt in any means.

Yixing parked the car near a familiar shop small shop. It was an old stone building with a dirt path leading to it, the outside covered in moss and other plants. The outside area was a well kept garden, growing all sorts of vegetables and flowers that looked fairly normal. While they made their way to the shop Yixing stopped to pick a few of the flowers as he always did. Tao looked at the plants with interest, but didn’t bother touching anything. Kris looked as interested as possible. 

A little bell rang as they entered the shop, and Yixing easily found his way over to the dried herbs. Tao proceeded to wander the small isles, looking at the assortment of items with interest and Kris trailed after him at a distance. If Junmyeon didn’t know better, he would have been worried about Kris following him so much. But it felt safer having someone watching over the young witch. Even with the neutral territory, Junmyeon knew better then to let Tao wander buy himself.

“Oh Junmyeon, Yixing, It’s nice to see you two again.” Jinki’s familiar voice called out, followed by said man appearing behind the counter. Yixing smiled and waved, before going back to his herbs. Junmyeon nodded in acknowledgement, offering a smile as he browsed the case in front of the counter. The case had an assortment of gems, stones and metal bits of various sizes and rarity. A small rough looking lush blue gem caught Junmyeon’s eye. “Is that-” Junmyeon couldn’t even finish his question before Jinki nodded and picked it up. 

“Tanzanite. Minho thought you might want it.” Jinki said, setting the stone on a small piece of paper before slipping it into a small box. Yixing made his way over to the counter, dropping off all the items he had managed to collect. He had a bit more than usual, but with how things were going Junmyeon wasn’t surprised. Jinki started to nicely pack up Yixing collection into sack, making small talk. 

There conversation was cut off by a piercing scream ripping through the air. 

Instantly Junmyeon looked over to Tao, relieved to see the younger standing in the shop still, staring towards the door with an equally startled look. As another sound ripped through the air, Junmyeon could help but make his way to the door, worried about what was going on. 

Making his way outside, he saw three people standing outside the shop two buildings down. Two were standing while another knelt, head pressed firmly into the dirt. Walking closer, Junmyeon felt his stomach drop at the sight before him. 

The woman of the two standing up had a chain in her hand, pulled taut. The end of the chain was wrapped around the knelt figure’s neck, practically suffocating the poor soul as the male pushed down the kneeling person head with his foot. The kneeling person looked no older than a teen, letting our whimpers of pain as she clawed at the ground, desperately trying to free herself. Her fingers were bloody and scratched up, the rough gravel digging into her flesh.

On the ground near her was an assortment of herbs and plants, along with a spilled over pot.

“Stupid Witch, We told you to make the potion while we were gone.” The man hissed out,stomping his foot down. The girl let out a choked scream of pain, followed by a sob. “What’s the point of having you if you can’t even do simple things?” The girl let out a sound, a response she couldn’t fully give with the chain on her throat. The woman gave the chain some slack, to which the male grabbed the girl by the hair and yanked her head up roughly. “What was that?”

“I-don’t know how-” She mumbled out, tears pouring down her face. The sight pained Junmyeon, but he didn’t dare move closer. Getting involved with a witch matter could get ugly, as long as they had a contract with her, they most likely could do as they wished. Junmyeon hadn’t ever witnessed such abuse openly towards a witch, but it wasn’t unheard of. Hell, Jaebum had warned him of such things. But seeing it made Junmyeon feel absolutely disgusted, especially with himself.

Ownership like this was wrong. 

“Well, you’re going to learn if you ever want to eat again.” The Woman spat out, yanking harshly on the chain. At that point, Junmyeon couldn’t take it anymore.

Turning away, He was shocked to see Tao. The younger was staring at the scene before him, only a step further back from Junmyeon. He looked completely unaffected by the scene, a blank expression on his face as he watched the strangers torment their witch. After a particularly painful cry from the girl, For the briefest of moments his eyes took on a darker, dull burgundy color. And for the smallest moment Tao’s expression slipped into one of pain.

But just as quickly it was gone, Tao blinking and his eyes drifting to Junmyeon, Back to the purple color. He smiled cheerfully at Junmyeon as if he hadn’t seen anything. As if there wasn’t a witch just like him being tormented only a few feet away.

Something was very wrong.


	19. Chapter 19

“I have something to show you.”

Tao looked up from his phone, noticing Kris with a serious look on his face.The entire ride back to the house Kris had been his normal silent self, looking out the window that the passing scenery. But this time, Tao had been able to practically feel the others brain working, thinking hard about something. Every time Tao glanced over he saw Kris either glaring out the window or biting his lip, completely unaware of his actions. 

As much as Tao had wanted to bother the other and ask him what was on his mind, he didn’t feel like it was the right time. Something deep inside him, locked far away and barely noticeable, told him not to push the other. So he had kept his mouth shut, choosing instead to enjoy the videos on his phone. Besides, he doubted Kris would want to talk about whatever was on his mind anyway. Kris had been one of the least social of the group. 

Tao had planned on telling Sehun or Luhan about the trip, but he was sure he could do that later. They were probably enjoying alone time together, and it wouldn’t hurt for Tao to give them more time if they were.

Knowing the fact Kris wasn’t one for conversation, Tao was surprised Kris was taking time to talk to him. At this point he was used to the staring and following around, but actually speaking was a whole new thing. While one part of him felt off about the whole idea, another part of him straight up preened at the thought. Something about him wanting to talk to Tao brought him this unwarranted joy he was shocked by. 

“Lead the way.” Tao said, smiling at Kris. Out of the corner of his eye Tao noticed Junmyeon watching on with concern,Whispering something to Yixing. But Tao didn’t think much of it. As of late, Junmyeon always looked worried, and Tao didn’t really see reason for it. Things were going good, great. Tao was enjoying himself, nothing was bothering him at all. 

Kris started walking, and Tao quickly fell instep next to him, trying to figure out what Kris was going to show him. He had given so little information, there wasn’t much to work with to find out. At this point, Tao had seen every part of the house other than a handful of peoples rooms, so it couldn’t be anything like that. It wasn’t any holiday or celebration, so Tao doubted Kris would be showing him some sort of gift. 

Much to his surprise, they ended up outside of Kris’s room. Kris looked over to Sehun who had poked his head outside his own bedroom, the two silently looking at each other before the younger nodded and re entered his room. A rather odd exchange, to say the least. But not uncommon for wolves to just stare at each other to communicate. 

“Wait here.” Kris commanded, before rushing into his room. After a minute or so, He opened his door, letting Tao into his room. Much like Sehun’s room, The space was clean, with a bit more chaos to it. The off white walls decorated with even more paintings than the youngers, all of a very similar art style.an easel sat in the corner next to a shelf filled with art supplies. Never before he would have taken Kris as the artist type, but it somehow suited him perfectly. And it explained all the paintings in Sehun’s room. 

Kris made his way over to the easel which currently had a small sheet on it, covering the painting on it. Tao felt a bit excited, realizing Kris was going to show him a piece of art. All of the ones around the room and Sehun’s had looked beautiful, so he was certain this one would look great as well. In one fluid motion kris removed the sheet, showing Tao his creation. 

The piece was interesting, an abstract looking oil painting of the sky over a small amount of rough sea water. Instead of normal colors, the sky was a mix of oranges and white, while the sea was various shades of purple waters. An odd choice of color, but It felt correct. The most interesting part had to the the small hilights and specks of gold through the painting, giving the whole thing an added flare. Upon closer inspection, Tao noticed the specks were raised from the rest of the art, meaning they weren’t painted. Kris had added flecks of gold to the art, possibly real ones.

“It’s beautiful. I love it.” Tao said, taking in the painting all he could. It had a similar vibe as the one he had seen in Sehun’s room, something about the orange coloring being so central to the pieces. And how the pieces seemed calm, yet something about them screamed unrest. “Is the gold real?”

Kris nodded. “I got it when Sehun and I went out, I felt like I needed to make it more genuine. To convey what I wanted better.” 

Tao grinned, fighting his urge to reach out and touch the painting. Art like this wasn't meant to be touched, not to mention it wasn’t his. Touching someone's art was rude, no matter how tempting it felt. 

“It’s for you, as an apology.” Kris said, and Tao felt his whole body freeze up at the words. An uncomfortable feeling started to form in his stomach. “I’m not the best at words, I think we both know that by now. But I feel comfort with art, and wanted to make something for you as an apology.” Kris’s eyes flickered to the floor, an apologetic expression on his face. He genuinely looked sorry, Tao could literally feel pain the wolf was feeling over the whole situation. Fear, regret, all of it washed over Tao, making uncomfortable feeling increase tenfold. 

“You didn’t deserve any of the things I did to you, and I know that now. I don’t want to give excuses, but something about you coming here ust riled me up in a way I couldn’t explain and I acted out. And I regret that severely.” Kris looked back up at him, biting his lip in discomfort. Tao could feel his heart beat in his chest, his whole entire body on edge. It felt so odd an foreign, discomfort being such a distant emotion. 

For a moment Tao was confused, unsure of what Kris was talking about. All he could think of the past few days, the meals with everyone, the going to Town, to bridgeport. Hanging out with the others, enjoying himself. But the feeling inside of him grew more as he began to panic. Why couldn’t he remember anything else? Why was Kris being like this. 

“I’m willing to do anything to apologize to you. I went too far, I acted out of line and I hate myself for it. It resulted in you hurting yourself, in you becoming something.. different. I don’t know how to explain it, But Im worried.”

The memories hit Tao like a train. Everything came rushing back at once, all the way back to before his sister, his brother, the old house, the apartment, his first arrival. The bullying, the attack, him hurting himself, the witch in bridgeport being abused. Everything felt overwhelming, and Tao felt at a complete loss. The last few days, or had it been weeks? God, he didn’t know. But it all had been a lie. He had been living in ignorant bliss, a shell of himself. 

Tao felt something wet on his cheeks, and reaching up he realized it was his own tears. He was crying, he was finally having some real reaction. His body began to shake as he let out a choked sob, unable to fight the rush of emotions. More tears came, Tao desperately trying to wipe them away. What if he did somethin stupid again beacuse he was upset, what if he went out of it again? It was terrifying, knowing it could know go as far as him being there, yet not registering anything at all. 

But a small warming feeling in his chest started to hush these thoughts, and before Tao knew it, his hand was taken by Kris. The wolf was rubbing soft circles into his palm, and Tao noticed his mouth was moving, he was trying to talk to him. It felt oddly familiar, like this wasn’t the first time Kris had comforted him. The small touch brought instant comfort to Tao, and he craved more of the safe feeling. The whole thing was a confusing mess, somehow the person who caused him pain was now bringing him comfort. But at the same time, Kris had brought him back, breaking the spell of being gone.

And most of all, Kris had done the one thing Tao had wanted. He had apologized, He had done it in a meaningful way, the art fitting perfectly. And the fact Tao could feel the emotions radiating off of the other, a jumbled mess or worry, relief, stress, regret, a hint of joy. It fit perfectly, almost calming down Tao. Kris was just like him, a mix of complicated emotions. And Tao wanted to try again, give a chance to make things work out. He couldn’t forgive him right off the bat, but Tao was willing to give him a chance. They had a lot of work to do, but Tao was up for it.

Tao moved, wrapping his arms around Kris and burying his face into the other shoulder. He felt Kris tense up, clearing not expecting that sort of reaction. But he caught on quickly, pulling the witch into a proper hug and rubbing his back soothingly. He continued to say things, things that were drowned out by Tao trying to stop himself from crying. Even with him not being able to hear them, just knowing Kris was trying made him feel so much better.  
They simply stood there, Tao letting his feelings run while Kris tried to comfort him. The wolf gained more confidence the longer they stood, his touches feeling less wary and restrained. Although there was still a discomfort in him, Tao felt himself eventually calm down, the words Kris spoke became clear. “I’m here” “Things are going to be okay.” “I’m sorry.” were among the things He said. They were so simple and plain, yet they were working. 

Once Tao felt himself stop crying, He pulled back slightly, freeing his face from the wolf's shoulder. Looking at Kris, Tao saw and felt a wave of relief rush through the other. It was odd feeling so connected, But Tao figured it was due to Kris catching on to something being wrong with the whole magic thing.

“Thank you.” Tao said. ”I appreciate it so much.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading.


	20. Chapter 20

Things weren’t perfect, But they were better.

One of the first things Tao took the time to do was move properly into his new room, Yixing’s old room. He hadn’t been the most sure of the idea, But the elder had been quick to reassure him. Not to mention, Junmyeon and him had already finished removing any traces of Yixing in the room, and had played the ‘It would be a waste to not use it card.’ It worked, Tao saw the logic in it. It helped that his stuff was already in the room, and the move was quick with how little other stuff Tao had.

His lack of stuff created a whole new problem. The large space looked uncomfortably empty. Empty walls, far too much floor space with only the bed and dresser. He didn’t want to complain, the bed was wonderful, the softest blankets Tao had ever felt combined with a mattress that he sunk into and almost fell asleep instantly while he was moving in. 

Junmyeon had a solution, going through the spare rooms on the ground floor and finding a vintage looking desk with little curved feet on the leg ends and old grainy wood that looked interesting, a bookshelf with a draw at the bottom, and deep blue teal armchair that looked far more modern than anything else in the room. It wasn’t much, but it felt less awkward being in the room. But an online shopping spree in the price range that Junmyeon refused to show Tao helped alleviate it even more. 

Kris brought in the painting, and Tao found the perfect place for it across from the bed. Upon noticing Tao’s discomfort with the blank walls, he wordlessly brought a few more pieces from his room and offered them to Tao. Tao was very grateful, giving a happy thank you and finding space for each piece. The paintings brought an arrangement of colors to the space, seeming to bring it alive more. It almost felt like Tao had a space of his own.

Things reverted back to semi normal. After talks with Junmyeon, Tao was getting a set pay, much higher then Tao had ever heard of a witch getting. But Junmyeon quickly explained it was typical pay for a human who did his job, with added compensation with everything added going on. Tao found it fair, choosing not to argue with the elder. He wasn’t against getting money, as long as it was fair. And from what he had gathered, it was. There was no guilt to be had. It helped that Tao was convinced Junmyeon was very rich at this point, and his pay wouldn't affect anything in a negative way. 

Kris and him were still in an odd state, but neither would avoid the other at this point. Often they would find themselves in the same space, sitting a comfortable distance away from each other. They would exchange words, nothing too deep or like his conversations with Sehun or Luhan, but it was pleasant. 

Now, Tao stood outside with the latter two, setting up a basketball hoop. There was a perfect size clearing just out back that would make a decent size court to play on. The muddy dirt ground wasn’t the best choice to play in, but they were a determined bunch to at least set up the hoops before it snowed again. The weather had started to heavily fluctuate, They woke up to heavy snow only for it to be sunny and hot by the time lunch came around. Apparently it wasn’t anything strange, but Tao worried a bit. His body wasn’t the biggest fan of rapidly changing weather, and he could already feel his throat start to feel scratchy despite the short amount of time they had been outside. 

“Almost finished.” Luhan called from above on the ladder, messing around with the hoop. Despite the group following the instructions and assembling everything before they tried putting it up, the hoop and been rickety and threatening to fall off at the slightest gush of wind. Since it would snow again, Luhan had opted to fix it himself. Sehun and Tao stood below, holding the ladder steady in the messy ground. When they were done here, Tao was determined to have a nice long warm bath. 

“Got it!” Luhan cheered, pulling back a bit too far. Tao watched on as horror as Luhan slipped, falling backwards off the ladder.

A feeling of panic and dread filled Tao, and he instantly reached out. Logically, Luhan would be fine with such a fall, probably not even bruising. But Tao couldn’t think like that. All he could think of was the bodies hitting the ground, the disgusting sounds of bone shattering combined with sounds of anguish. Humans that had gone too far being tossed out as if they were nothing, the wolves laughing at their pain as if it were a sport. It had always terrified him, making him hate heights. 

But instead of Luhan falling back he remained frozen in place, not even so much as his clothing seemed to move. Finding it odd, Tao let his eyes travel down and next to him to Sehun, who also appeared to be frozen in place, a worried look starting to form on his face. Tao slowly pulled his hand back, moving it around in confusion as everything else remained frozen in place around him. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, still not over the flashbacks of his younger days. But Sehun didn’t even look to be breathing. 

Glancing around, Tao noted everything within sight remained unmoving. The crow in the tree up above, the storm drain water, the trees, it all stood perfectly still as if time had stopped. 

But that wasn’t possible, and Tao didn’t want to waste time considering such a thing when Luhan wouldn’t get hurt the moment things returned to normal. He quickly moved the latter closer to luhan, making it so the elder could easily reach out and grab it. The moment it was back in place everything appeared to return to normal, Luhan letting out a loud yelp and tightly gripped the top rung. Tao held onto the bottom tightly, keeping the whole thing in place as Luhan attempted to resitutate himself. 

Without missing a beat, Luhan climbed down the ladder and dramatically brushed off himself. Sehun looked confused at what had happened, but apparently shrugged it off and simply put the ladder down. 

The backdoor opened rather harshly, hitting the side of the house with a loud thunk. Kris strolled out the door and onto the small porch, acting as if he hadn’t rushed out. He casually stuck his hands in his pocket with a shrug, and slowly walked over. But as he got closer, Tao noticed the slightly pink tint to his cheeks and awkward breathing pattern similar to that of someone who had just been running. 

“What has you all bothered and in a hurry?” Luhan asked, jokingly patting the elder wolf. Said wolf made an annoyed face as him. 

“I thought something was wrong, but I guess I was wrong.” He answered nonchalantly, his gaze moving to Tao. The wolf stared at Tao, studying his face until he found whatever he was looking for, then turned away. “Junmyeon wants to head into town before it gets too late, so you guys should start getting ready.” 

Tao found the whole exchange odd, but he didn’t make a comment about it. He found himself still a bit to weirded out with what had transpired before to really trouble himself in understanding the way Kris’s mind worked. 

\-----

After a sadly short shower and quick change, Tao found himself in the car with the usual bunch. Junmyeon, Yixing, Chanyeol, Kris, and himself. As Tao had learned, Kyungsoo didn’t like going to Town, and Minseok and Jongdae would only go if the other was, which neither really seemed to like going in the first place. 

Junmyeon had something involving papers he had to do, and Chanyeol wanted to go visit the guy he had been talking to. Tao was ecstatic, giving him a bit of advice the entire car ride in. Although Tao wasn’t sure how great of advice it was seeing as he hadn’t really been much of a person to date himself. But he liked to believe his advice was good, it at least made sense in his head. And he had read his fair share of magazines to know a wide arrangement of tips.

As the lot got out at the mall, Junmyeon held them back for a moment, a serious look on his face. “You guys need to be careful and stick together. We haven’t gotten any proof, but Jaebum has informed me there is a rumour going around of disappearances.” Junmyeon shifted in place, clearly uncomfortable with the whole topic. “Of course it’s always to risk to go around, but I want everyone to be extra careful with things like this going around. We don’t know if it’s real or a scare tactic, but it’s better safe than sorry.”

“We will be extra careful!” Chanyeol reassured, patting Junmyeon shoulder. “I have no plans other than being in the mall.” Yixing nodded as well, giving Junmyeon hand a soft squeeze and letting it go. Sehun had wanted to stay with Junmyeon, so Yixing would be sticking to Chanyeol.

That left Kris and Tao to be together. Normally, the others would be worried, but after seeing Tao and Kris’s civil interactions they had stopped trying to keep them away from each other. Tao especially didn’t mind, Kris would be a great asset if they were to run into any trouble. No shade to Yixing or Chanyeol, but Kris felt like a better choice. Not to mention Tao had an idea of something he wanted to do with Kris. Or more like something he wanted from him.

And now as they were left alone to their own devices, Tao turned to the other, a small dramatic pout on his face. “I’m hungry.” Tao said, the smallest hint of a whine to his voice. “You should buy me food.” As expected, Kris’s brown furrowed in confusion, and maybe a bit of annoyance. But as he started to open his mouth to protest, Tao reached up and ran his fingers over the scar on his neck, his head tilted just enough to show it off to the elder. A reminder you could say, of what he had done. Tao was all for forgiving the wolf, but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t try to milk something from him first. He deserved that much. 

Kris shut his mouth, clearly catching what Tao was hinting at. He took a moment, before speaking. “What do you want?” He asked, his voice calm and even.

“Hmm……I don’t know. ” Tao kept up his act, over emoting each thing he did. “I want something really good. Fried chicken sounds nice.” Kris expression wavered at the choice, clearly trying to hide his annoyance. If there was one thing Tao had noticed about Kris’s eating habits, it wasn't a fan of fried food. The few times he had made fried food, Kris had conveniently left the house or couldn’t be found. Sehun had muttered something about Kris saying it ‘wasn’t his style.’ All dramatics aside, Tao actually wanted to eat fried chicken and it was only an added perk that it mildly annoyed the wolf. 

“Fine.” Kris said through gritted teeth, taking a hold of and leading him to the food court. They got a few looks from strangers. It wasn’t every day you saw two attractive men together, pretty much holding hands, getting food. Kris appeared completely oblivious to the looks, and Tao didn’t care. 

Once Kris ordered their food and got it, he then dragged Tao to an open table in the corner and set the tray on the table. Tao smiled as he sat down, overjoyed by the amount of food. Kris had gotten some sort of meal deal, as there was not only a bucket of chicken, but a drink, fries, every dipping sauce, and what appeared to be a rootbeer float. Truly, Kris knew how to treat a guy right when it came to food. It almost felt like too much.

Tao dug into the food, happily munching away as Kris sat across from him. The wolf didn’t bother to touch the food, let alone look at it. Instead he looked at the fake tree only a few feet away, staring at it as if it were the most interesting thing he had ever seen. Unsatisfied, Tao stabbed one of the chicken pieces with a fork and waved it at the elders face. Kris’s face scrunched as he pulled away. 

“Come on, Try it. It’s really good.” Tao insisted, moving the food closer. Kris shook his head, leaning back as far as his chair would allow him. The witch frowned at the rejection, shoving a few fries in his mouth and chewing. He kept the piece hovering in front of the wolf, but he wouldn’t budge. Tao knew for a fact Kris hadn’t eaten yet today, and figured he must have not been enjoying just sitting and watching Tao eat, so he decided to play a trap card.

“It would make me really happy if you tried it.” Tao said, sulking slightly. The move worked, Kris taking the fork from Tao. He eyed the chicken suspiciously, before taking a small bite. After a moment, he seemed to realize it wasn’t going to kill him and took a proper bite. He hesitantly continued to eat, Finishing the piece under Tao’s watching full eye. The witch smiled as the wolf picked up another piece, eating it with less hesitation.

Once the food was all gone Kris so nicely cleaned up everything and put it in the trash. As they were washing their hands in the bathroom, another idea popped into Tao’s head.

“You know Kris, there’s this coat I really want….”


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My laptop kicked the bucket a few days back and I've been trying to get things finished, but I loath typing anything more then a paragraph out on my phone. So if this seems any less in quality I'm so sorry. I would like to say I have been reading the comments and noticed some people seem to be on the right path with their theories. I don't want to give to much because spoilers, but I wanted to at least let those who are trying to figure things out know they are on the right track.

Every time Tao asked Kris to buy him something, the elder would without really questioning it. After the initial jacket, Kris didn’t even look annoyed and let out any sound of protest. If anything, Kris seemed to go over bored and by Tao a few extra things. This came prevalent when they entered a jewelry store.

The witch was browsing the jewelry, looking for things he could one day buy. He only had two sets of earrings that he rotated through, cheap ones Dejun had gotten him for his birthday. Tao could remember it clearly, begging Irene to let him pierce his ears, promising he would be careful. The plan was for Tao to do it himself, going out and getting them done was far too expensive. Irene had been adamantly against the idea, stating how important it would be to get them done correctly. Her reaction had bummed him out, but it quickly was turned around when they went out a day later and went to a tattoo place and Tao was able to get his ears done for free due to some agreement Irene had made with the lady.

While in the store, Tao had picked a few up to look at, but he ended up putting them all back since the quality was so nice it was out of his price range. He did end up getting a nice, sturdy lower end pair, a fake black gem with a silver looking border. But what Tao really wanted to do was get another piercing, so he started a conversation with the lady at the counter, asking her where the best place was. The lady was nice, even offering him a few business cards from places she had gotten her done. 

When it came to check out, Tao was surprised to see Kris add a lot more sets to the order, many of them ones Tao had been looking at. Before Tao could protest, Kris gave the lady his card and stated firmly he would be buying it. The process was quick and then were soon outside the store before Tao realized what had even fully happened. At first Tao had been confused and asked for Kris to take them back, but when the wolf shook his head and said it would be too much of a hassle to return them, Tao had conceded and accepted the additional gifts. He didn’t feel too guilty, feeling that if they had cost too much Kris wouldn’t have gotten them. 

Going on from there, Tao mostly stuck to window shopping since he really didn’t need more than that. The teasing had gotten old quickly after Kris stopped looking conflicted after Tao’s questions. In the end, that may have been Kris’s strategie all along, and the witch could have just played himself. But it didn’t feel like that. 

Tao found himself wanting to check some of the stores near the mall and see what they had. With Junmyeon prior warning in his head, he made sure to text both him and Yixing that they would be venturing out a little and that he would make sure to stick by Kris. Once he got the okay back from them, he grabbed onto Kris and they made their way outside. The weather wasn’t great with the wet sidewalks and grey skies, but they were lucky there wasn’t any snow. They walked rather close together, Tao holdin onto Kris' wrist. Part of the reason he did it was to lead the other male, but another was to keep him close.

Last time he had strayed from the mall hadn’t been a pleasant experience, so he thought maybe if he kept the wolf close he would be drawn away again. He only knew of what happened through what he had been told, and from what had been said it had been unsettling. To not only lose control but wander off with vampires sounded like a recipe for disaster. Even thinking about it now had Tao gripping on Kris a bit tighter, his eyes flickering around for something to be out of place. There wasn’t much to see, they had ended up a few blocks away and towards a less busy part of the area.

After checking out yet another clothing store and picking up nothing, They decided to head back to the mall. But as they were about to cross a side street Kris stopped suddenly, almost causing Tao to trip over the curb. Once Tao composed himself, he looked to Kris to see why he had stopped. The wolf was looking down the street, and following his line of sight Tao saw it too. A teen who could be any older than sixteen was running towards them like his life depended on it. As he drew closer, Tao could hear the sound of his shoes hitting the wet pavement, the sound that must have drawn Kris’s attention. 

The teen was too busy looking backwards, but at what Tao couldn’t tell. From what he could see, there was nobody. But the kid could have come from a different side street leaving whatever was chasing him out of view. When he was almost to where Kris and Tao stood the kids finally looked forward. A look of pure terror covered the teens face, clear tear streaks running down his cheeks. He seemed to move even fast upon seeing them, closing the distance within movements and attaching himself to Tao. The teen hid behind Tao, shoving his face against Tao's back while wrapping his arms around him. The poor thing was shaking horribly, his breath coming out ragged. 

"Please help me."

Just as the teen finished speaking a trio of people rounded the corner, two women and a male. They looked around a bit, before spotting them and moving forward at a quick pace. Kris instantly moved closer, a sour look appearing on his face much worse then Tao had ever witnessed. The expression was matched on one of the females faces when she got closer. She looked fairly familiar, but Tao couldn't place from where. 

"Excuse us, That's our thing you have there." The taller of the two females stated, glaring daggers at Kris. The shorter female in turn was giving a similarly upset look at Tao, so filled with venom that he could only wonder what had happened to her that made her hate him so much. 

"Oh come on, we don't need to play nice with those things, its that stupid Witch again and his dog." The shorter female spat out, turning her gaze to the male. "Can't we just get rid of them?"

Tao had no memory of these people, but it didn't take much for him to figure it out. They must have been the vampires he had dealt with that one time, and they were pissed and wanted the teen for some reason. Was the kid a witch? It didn't seem likely, it didn't feel right had they hadn't referred to him as one. That had done something more demeaning, calling him a thing. It was confusing, and only made Tao feel more compelled to keep the kid as far away as he could from them. 

"Hand him over and we won't make a mess of you." The male demanded, taking a step forward. A bad move, as it made Kris move forward as well right in front of him. The male was in no way short or lacking in build, but Kris towered over the vampire and looked as if he could crush him in his grip. 

"You better back up." The wolf threatened, his voice low and on the verge of being a growl. The male didn't budge, he looked Kris in the face as if he were nothing. 

The shorter woman moved fast, lunding towards Tao at an inhuman speed and the other woman went for Kris. The teen let out a screech of fear, seeming to shrink into Tao even more. It was a mess, so much happening at once and all Tao could do was react. His hands went up, His mind screaming block block block. He had no idea what he was going to do, there was no way he could hold his own against a vampire physically. They were stronger and faster, easily able to over power him.

Yet his magic worked, light surrounding Tao, a massive oval shape in front of him in a translucent shimmery orange. The moment the woman made contact with it she bounced backwards with a painfully his, stumbling to the ground. She was startled for a moment, looking down as her burned skin on her arm that had touched the shield of magic. The burn only seemed to anger her more and she was moving again, this time sticking low to the ground and trying to go under it. As Tao tried to move his shield of light down, it only expanded its size, shifting in a half sphere shape and completely blocking him from the front. Whatever the light was, it was not only able to push things back but burn them. 

There was a problem though. 

Kris was on the other side, dodging the vampires best he could. The male had a bloody patch on his shoulder, and from what Two could tell it looked as if Kris had managed to claw. Kris was looking less and less human, his face becoming more sharp, his canines more prominent and his hands nails looking more like claws But two on one was bad, and the shorter female seemed to realize it would be better for her to go for Kris. She jumped him, catching him off guard as she grabbed onto his arm. What followed was the most horrifying bone cracking sound Tao had ever heard, the limb snapping in half. He could tell his stomach drop, horror filling him. Kris may have been a wolf, wolves may have been able to heal faster, but his limb had been so damaged it simply went limp as Kris let out a painful whine. He stumbled and lashed out while the other vampires moved in. He managed to hit the taller female in the face, but the male kept moving. 

Everything went red.

"Stay." Tao ordered the teen, detaching himself from the trembling form and bolting forward. With a wave of his hand the shield expanded, completely encompassing the space and becoming a perfect sphere. He lunged at the woman who had hurt Kris, muttering words from one of the books he had read. They were in a language long forgotten by man, words his sister had taught him because he didn't understand. The translation would have been rough, but there was one thing he knew stopped a vampire. Fire. 

His hands began to glow bright as a flame as he grabbed a hold of the woman, ripping her away from Kris with a strength he didn't know he had. She let out a painful shrink, her flesh burning where he touched, my worse then the minor pain that came from the shielding magic. Her skin had turned a dark, ugly red color, the area only expanding despite the fact he wasn't touching her any more. Her cries caught the other two attention, they both stopped to look at Tao. While they were distracted Kris managed to move backwards while Tao moved forward. Kris was able to get in between Tao and the shield before the male vampire got a hold of himself and tried attacking again. 

As if Kris could read Tao's mind he ran into the magical shield, not staying to help Tao. The witch didn't need help, the magic flowing from his hands to his feet as he kicked the vampire as he got in range. It sent him backwards with a similar sound of pain. He didn't fall, but it gave Tao enough time to also go behind his Shield. The taller woman had gone to check on her mate, a pure look of horror on her face at the damage Tao had managed to do. It was bad, but Tao didn't feel any regret. Kris's arm was painfully snapped and torn, a clear look of agony still on his face. And now that they were at a stand still he noticed more injuries, albeit much smaller. Tao had half a mind to go out there and just set everything ablaze. 

But a wave of exhaustion ran through him, the toll of holding up the powerful shield and using attack magic kicking in. He felt queasy and wanted to sit down, but he knew showing weakness would only make the vampires stay. They knew they couldn't get through the shield, and if Tao looked unaffected, they were more likely just to leave and take care of their wounds over staying to fight more. And just as he hoped, the Male took one look at the situation and ordered for the group to move out, the three of them quickly running off. 

Tao stayed in place, his head pounding as the magic Drained him. But he only released it when he couldn't sense the vampires anywhere nearby. He felt himself wobbly a bit, but instead of resting her turned to Kris. His arm was a nasty sight, Kris trying to carefully hold it in place. Tao tried to wrack his brain for healing magic, but the attempt was futile. He knew nothing about healing others, and in his state he wouldn't be able to any way. Panic took over Tao, completely unsure of what to do or how to help anything. Kris was hurt, and he couldn't help but feel like it was his fault. He should have done something wailed, he should have pulled Kris back, he should have-

"Call Junmyeon Tao." Kris said calmly, cutting through Tao's cascade of thoughts. "I can't do it like this." Tao looked at Kris, before nodding his head and pulling out his phone with his shaking hands. Now that he adrenaline was gone, it had been replaced with panic and fear. But he needed to be strong, he had to do something before they came back. 

Junmyeon picked up on the first ring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for reading and take care of yourselves!


	22. Chapter 22

Tao found himself back at the house in his room with the teen after a whirlwind of events. Despite how bad of an idea it was to have an injured Kris stuck in a car for over an hour, they couldn’t go to the Sunshine House for help like normal. At the same time they had gotten in the fight their witch Yugyeom had gone missing, sending their entire house into a frenzy in finding him. Yugyeom had only gone out to grab a package, but he didn’t come back in. Furthermore his phone had been found destroyed only a few blocks away and there was no trace of him anywhere. 

Junmyeon had tried to offer to help with the search, But Jinyoung had waved him off and told them to focus on their own and the kid, he would contact them later. Tao had hated the idea of just leaving while the other witch was missing, but he had Kris and the teen to worry about and Junmyeon had the final say.

Another problem had arisen in that they didn’t have enough room in the car to bring everyone back with the new face. It was already a tight squeeze with the injured Kris, so they had to leave not one but two of them back. But their saving grace came in the form of Chanyeol's current love interest: Baekhyun. The human knew nothing of the situation other than they were having problems with rides, and had kindly offered to drive those who needed back when his shift was over. Chanyeol and Sehun ended up volunteering to stay, promising only to stay in the coffee shop and going straight home. 

Kris was currently being patched up, and Tao had been asked to leave the room as he kept freaking out the more the wound was revealed. So there he was, pacing his floor as the teen silently watched him from the bed. He was sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest, his chin resting on his knee making him look very small. 

With all the chaos going on, somehow Tao felt an unnatural calmness rooted in him, gently nudging at him internally to calm down. It was working to an extent, keeping him from overthinking about the other witch situation. It still felt jarring to have such conflicting feelings, but Tao was learning it was helpful to lean in on the more comfortable feeling. It helped him bring his attention fully to the new problem to deal with: the teen. 

“My name’s Tao, what’s your name?” Tao asked, pausing in his movement to properly look at the younger. He didn’t want to scare the teen, so he kept his voice calm despite how worried he was. The whole time the group had been so worried about the situation that nobody had really stopped to ask the real questions of what was going on. Tao didn’t even know what the kid was

Upon hearing Tao’s question the kid picked his head up, looking back at Tao with wide eyes. “My name’s Yangyang.” He answered. He still looked shaken, but after the long drive he had stopped looking around everywhere as if he was being stalked. Tao nodded at the answer, feeling better now that he knew the teens names now.

“Why were those vampires chasing you?”

A stiff, suffocating silence filled the room. Tao watched as the younger tried to string his words together in his mind, not in a way that looked as if he were trying to come up with something, but as if he really wasn't sure of what had happened.

“I don’t know.” The teen admitted, a small frown forming on his face. “I was just looking for my friend who had to go into town, and they came out of nowhere and started harassing me.” Yangyang paused, his eyes shifted to Tao. “I didn’t grow up in the city, or anything like a human. I didn’t even own clothes until recently, so when they grabbed me and demanded for me to reveal myself I didn’t know what to do. I can’t transform right now, but they didn’t believe it and they tried-” Yangyang teared up, burying his face back to his knees as he started to shake again.Tao quickly moved forward, softly brushing his hands through the younger's hair. The teen was giving such a rush of information he could understand it being overwhelming. 

From his new spot, he could see YangYang’s back, his sweatshirt had a few damp dark red splotches. Blood, the teen had been hurt this entire time yet hadn’t said anything.

“What happened to your back? Do we need to go get Yixing?” Yangyang shook his head, quickly looking back at Tao. “Can I at least see it?” At that Yangyang hesitated, before slowly nodding his head and unzipping his hoodie. Underneath he had a plain grey tee shirt, making the blood stains even more obvious. With permission Tao lifted up the back of his shirt to see marks that had looked like someone had tried to rip something out from underneath his skin where his shoulder blades were. They weren't too bad, mostly small shallow marks, but he knew from experience even small marks could be painful and become infected.

Quickly Tao moved away, going to the bathroom connected to his room and fishing out a medical kit he had taken from the infirmary. He asked Yangyang to lay on his stomach, which the teen did. As Tao started to patch up his back the other went on.

“They thought I was hiding my wings and that they would be able to tear them out.” Yangyang said, his voice quivering with each word. “I would never hind my wings, I love them. But I don’t have my token so I don’t have them right now. My fiance has it.” 

At that remark Tao looked at the younger in confusion. There were a few creatures that came to mind that had wings and there were many meanings for the word token, but he was more thrown off on the fact the younger was engaged. “Aren’t you a little young to be getting married?” Tao asked. From the sounds of it, whatever Yangyang was, he was a traditionalist, but even so he seemed a bit too young to be getting married. He finished patching up the younger, before pulling his shirt back down and letting him get up. 

Yangyang surprisingly nodded his head at the remark, his face flushing. Somehow he had shifted from looking scared to embarrassed. “It was an accident, But he’s a really nice guy and we really like each other and decided we would tie the knot until we were older..” But his expression quickly faded back to one less savory. “But… He went missing. The first of our group. He said he would come back soon, and we waited but he never came back.” Yangyang looked absolutely crushed as he spoke, and Tao couldn’t help but feel for him. 

“So you have had two people go missing?” Tao asked, wanting to clarify the situation. Yangyang nodded his head. With that new information, a wave worried bubbled up inside of Tao. That would make three confirmed cases of creatures going missing, and that wasn’t even counting the fact there had been rumors before. It wasn’t unheard of witches to go missing for one reason or another, but it was rare to hear of other creatures vanishing. Sometimes they would be killed or go into hiding, but it typically would get around that the person was still there or a body had been found. This was new, and this was bad. 

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation, and Junmyeon stepped into the room. Yanyang once again explained his situation, giving about the same amount of details. 

“Well Yangyang, you can stay here as long as you need to. Clearly it’s not safe to go out now.” Junmyeon offered, smiling and the scared teen. “You will need to remain human while Chanyeol's guest is here, but other than that you may act as you need.” 

At Junmyeon's words Tao perked up, a small bit of excitement taking over his worry. The guy Chanyeol liked was here, dropping him and Sehun off. This was his chance to properly meet the guy the Banshee was smitten with. He checked to make sure Yangyang was and before leaving to find the pair. It wasn’t hard, they were cooped up in the game room downstairs by themselves. But they were really alone, As Jongdae, Minkseok and Luhan all were hanging out in the adjacent room, clearly trying to watch the pair through the archway. 

\----

It was a miracle things didn’t break out into total chaos. After Tao’s boldness, for the rest of the day everyone else tried to talk to the human, or at least get a good look at him. Even Kris and Kyungsoo made themselves known, though they quickly moved on. Kyungsoo ended up helping Tao in the kitchen, they decided it would be best to make some food for everyone to help ease things. Kris was watching them in the kitchen, unable to do anything with his arm that was now in a sling. According to the wolf his arm wasn’t healing properly, but it was in much better condition then it had been earlier. 

Normally cooking would help Tao calm down, but he couldn’t quite free himself this time. There was a looming cloud of darkness over him, worry over what was going on, worry over Yugyeom slipping in as the push towards calmness had seemingly vanished. It had been hours and they still hadn’t heard anything back from Jinyoung or Jaebum over the situation of the witch. 

“Your eyes were pretty cool.” Yangyang said out of nowhere, bringing everyone's attention to him. He was looking at Tao, a smile on his face. The comment managed to distract him from the darker train of thoughts. “I understand the paintings in your room now, it’s because of your eyes.” Tao looked at him in confusion, before looking at Kris. The wolf was looking at the teen with a curiosity Tao hadn’t seen before, his head tilted the slightest like a dog. 

The only paintings Tao had in his room were from Kris, but Tao didn’t see what they had to do with his eyes. There was the purple one, but that was just one. The rest were abstract scenery oil paintings from what Tao could tell. It wasn’t like Kris had sat him down and explained the pieces. But every so often he had caught a glimpse of a sketch of Kris, often looking rough and Tao unable to pinpoint the inspiration. It wasn’t that often Kris did art outside his room, so Tao never said anything since he didn’t want to break the peaceful scene.

At Tao’s confusion and Kris’s lack of speech. “When you use your magic your eyes turn orange, and all the pieces in your room feature orange heavily. Like the purple water one.”

Kris’s expression shifted to one of surprise, but Tao missed it. He was more focused on the information he was given. Orange, his eyes color for his own magic was orange. Out of all the colors, he never really considered orange to be the color for him. But it somehow fit. All of the painting in his room did have orange, but Tao didn’t think it had anything to do with himself. From what he knew, orange was just a color Kris used often, along with purple. 

“The water one was inspired by his eyes, but the others were made before I even met Tao” Kris said. 

“Wait-” Tao asked, setting down the bowl he had stopped mixing in all the confusion, “When did you see my eyes before? They have only been purple.” 

“Luhan told me a while back you did some magic and your eyes turned orange.” Kris tried to shrug, but he ended up wincing pain as he forgot his arm had been nearly torn off somehow. Even Tao wanted to cringe at the small motion, touching his own arm. Thinking back, Tao couldn’t remember a time using magic in front of Luhan that had made his eyes show, the vampire had never mentioned it either. The switch clearly wasn't subtle either if Yangyang had noticed. 

“I see.” Tao said, not really able to come up with anything further. He quickly picked up his bowl again and turned away, not confident in whatever expression he was making. Kris hand made art inspired by him, which he knew, but now it somehow felt even more personal. It was hard to explain what he felt, but he could feel his heart stutter in his chest for a moment. Was he happy? Embarrassed? He didn’t know. Yangyang told him his eyes were cool, which he did appreciate. 

But this was different.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all th reads and kudos. I'm amazed this has managed to get a thousand reads, I honestly didn't expect people to take an interest in my works. It makes me so happy that even a few people read this each time I upload. Again, Thank you ;-; Stay safe. X


	23. Chapter 23

Tao, Sehun, Yangyang and Luhan were walking in the wooded area in front of the house, enjoying the cold breeze combined with warm sunlight of the setting sun filtering through the trees. A thin layer of snow decorated the ground, the thinnest areas melted away after a long day of heavy sunlight. The air was filled with an earthy scent, Similar to fresh rain mixing with soil. They had made it pretty far out before they had decided to turn around and head back to the house.

Yangyang was enjoying himself heavily, a skip in his step as he walked beside Tao and looked around at everything. It had only been less than a week, but it was easy to see improvements in the teen already just by how he walked. No longer did he hunch down, looking around nervously as if something would jump out at him. 

In some ways, Yangyang Reminded Tao of his brother. Dejun was a slight bit more reserved, but he could also be just as playful and full of energy. The both showed an interest in seeing and learning new things, whereas Dejun did it through reading and learning on his own, Yangyang would ask endlessly about the thing inside the house. He was quick to take over one of the gaming stations in the game room, even if he constantly had to ask Chanyeol for help since Tao didn’t know how to play. After the first day the younger had gotten comfortable enough to beg Tao to go outside with him so he could explore, the younger loved being outside even in the cold.

The question of what Yangyang was still sat in Tao’s mind, yet he had failed to ask the younger yet. A few clues had been collected, the younger seemed to heavily eat a plant based diet, only knowing and liking a selection of other things. Yangyang also seemed to have an affinity for water, the younger could be found in his free time with Jongdae in the pool. With how good things were going, Tao considered asking the younger one what he was now.

Luhan and Sehun walked behind Tao and Yangyang, sharing small talk. With everything that had happened, the vampire had started to spend even more time around the wolf and annoying Kris in the process. Tao couldn’t blame Luhn. Yeah they were back at the house, but so much had been going on and Sehun could have been put in the way of danger. Luhan cared about the younger wolf, even if it wasn’t the same way the younger saw him. 

Yugyeom was still missing, putting the whole group on edge even with the seeming peace. The younger witches group had completely shut down their work and was a mess trying to find him. But there were no traces of the witch, and no leads. The trouble making vampire had been spotted and questioned a few times, but they always gave nothing before slipping away.At this point many were starting to believe they had something to do with the disappearances, but there was no proof or anything to show they were involved. 

Junmyeon had offered to come help in the search when things calmed down on their end. There wasn’t much they could do more that Jaebum’s group hand’t done, but it was the thought that counted. Besides, Kris and Sehun had both offered their noses to the cause, thinking they might be able to pick up scent. Kris ended up going in the early morning today since if they waited any longer it was highly likely there would be nothing to pick up on. The wolf had been a bit reluctant, but Tao had reasoned they were safe at the house. It had been a whole week with no signs of anything out of the ordinary. When Sehun had offered to go instead, Kris had quickly denied him and headed out.

Tao wondered how Kris was doing. Since they hadn’t heard anything back, he could only guess nothing had been found yet sadly. 

Behind Tao, the two suddenly stopped talking. Sehun cut off mid sentence talking about a drink or something, and Tao could hear him stop walking. 

“Something's coming.” Sehun suddenly said, his voice full of alarm.

Yangyang managed to pull back just before a person came out from the tree in front of him, the person trying to grab him. The teen stumbled back and next to Tao, his eyes blown wide with fear. Luhan and Sehun both appeared confused, but Tao recognized the man before them. Within moments the shorter woman appeared besides them, a taunting smile on her face.

How none of them had noticed the two of them before this was beyond Tao, not to mention they were in between them and the house. Had they followed them home? It seemed unlikely,they lived so far out and there hadn’t been any sign of anything following them. 

“What are you doing here?” Tao spat out, putting an arm out in front of Yangyang to block him from the creatures. “Are you asking to get your ass beat again?” The woman rolled her eyes and let out a small snort, before taking a step forward. 

“That bird brat knows where the witch we got went, So we have come to collect him and get the information.” She said, staring down at Yangyang. “Unless you want to offer up another witch to us.”

“You can’t just take him.” Luhan stated, stepping forward as well. Despite not knowing much, he quickly seemed to catch on who these people were. 

]”I think you are going to want to listen to us this time.” The male vampire said flatly. He pulled out his phone, tapping the screen for a moment before slipping it back in his pocket. They did nothing more, standing there and blocking them from returning to the house for a short amount of time. 

The silence was broken by an ear piercing screaming coming from the house. “I wonder what that was.” The woman said almost teasingly, stepping to the side to let them pass. The group moved, booking it to the house as fast as they could. The vampires followed, but keep there distance for some reason. 

The sight outside of the house made Tao’s heart drop. 

Outside the house where a dozen or so people he had never seen before, a few lingering round the door, another few around the car. But just off the porch steps were only three and Jongdae. The siren was face first on the ground with one the guys foot pushing on the back of his head, a small pool of blood staining the snow. Another had Jongdae's arm, teeth sunk into it and ripping the flesh as he haphazardly tried to drink the blood. His entire body was shaking as he let out sounds of pain.

Through one of the side windows Tao could see Minseok watching the whole scene with an horrified face, unable to do anything. With how many Vampires were currently in ther front yard, it would be suicide to step out. Even Tao felt unsafe, he found himself pulling Yangyang closer to him.

“Stop him.” Tao demanded, glaring at the woman from before. She shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest, the gross smile still on her face. 

“Either give us the kid, or one of your witches, or else I’m going to let the baby there kill your little fish friend. Then, I’m going to let them all go in and by one drag out the rest of them and let the same thing happen.” She stated. “Or maybe, We can start with your little wolf friend here. I fucking hate those things.” Her eyes flickered to the house. “I know you can here me, so make your fucking choice.” She added rather loudly.

The front door opened and the vampires parted to let Yixing and Junmyeon step out. From what Tao knew, Junmyeon wasn’t the type to give up someone so easily. He cared for the others of the house, even if he couldn’t directly do much. Even in the short amount of time Yanyagn had been there he had seen to grow fond of the teen. That led to the question of what the male would do. Junmyeon was powerful, radiant energy. But Tao doubted that anything the elder could do would be fast enough to stop over 15 vampires from tearing any of them to shreds. And who knew how many more of those things were out there, perhaps holding back until given notice.

The confusing part was her saying ‘one of your witches.’ Tao was the only witch in the house as far as he knew, yet she had been so firm in her words. But as The female vampire who seemed to be zeroed in on Yixing as the two got close, something in Tao’s mind clicked. The familiar feeling he had gotten from Yixing. But it didn’t make sense, it had been so weak. Even for witches who didn’t do magic that match, you would still feel it that they were a witch. Yixing’s was so faint it didn’t make sense, it was like something else was mixed in. 

Although Tao could tell Junmyeon wasn trying to appear calm and collected, he saw the traces of worries lingering on his face. His eyes kept on wandering to Yixing, reminding Tao of when they would have unspoken conversations. Were they having one now? Discussing what to do. The easy answer would be to give up Tao. It would cost them a lot, but Junmyeon and Yixing were partners, and Tao couldn’t see them tossing the kid out for these monsters. Tao would prefer it if they threw him out over Yangyang, the teen was to young to deal with whatever they had planned to get information from him. 

They stopped in front of the woman, all eyes falling upon the pair. Yixing looked inhumanly calm about the whole thing, offering the faintest smile to Junmyeon before taking a step forward. 

“I offer myself, please let him go.” Yixing said, offering his hand to the woman. She eyed him suspiciously, before turning and nodding her head to the men tormenting Jongdae. They released him, the siren quickly crawling forward. Luhan was quick to move, helping Jongdae to his feet and pulling him away from the horde of vampires. His face looked horrible, his eyes were swollen with purple bruising underneath the blood dripping from his messed up nose.

This was wrong. Yixing was needed here, he was the only one who could heal and was Junmyeon's mate. Even if sometimes he was weird and a bit tone deaf, the elder had been nothing but kind to Tao, and it scared him to think of what they would do to him. From what Tao knew, Yixing didn't live as a normal witch, hell, at all as one. He didn’t know anything, even less then Tao had. Suddenly Tao understood why his sister didn’t want him taking up a contract or job, it felt horrible seeing someone offer themselves up when they didn’t need to. 

Before Tao could stop himself, he felt himself step forward. “No, Take me instead. I’m much stronger and better trained. I’m worth more.” He said. It sounded a little arrogant, but that was fine with Tao. IF they wanted a witch, they would want the better one. If he could make himself look better, Yixing would be free to go. The elder males eyes went wide with shock and confusion. Junmyeon even reached out to Tao, grasping his shoulder. 

“What are you doing Tao?” Junmyeon asked, his calm facade cracking. A mixture of fear and worry was clear on his face as he paled. The woman looked between the two witches, before taking Tao’s arm instead of Yixing’s. 

“I’ll accept, you seem to have more to you then him.” She said, squeezing painful hard onto Toa’s wrist. The action sent shocks of pain through Tao, forcing him to let out a painful hiss. She smiled at his pain.

“Bag him up and let’s go.” She yelled out. Quickly the vampire all began moving, the two that had been harassing Jongdae grabbing a hold of Tao. A sharp pain shot through Tao’s head and he stumbled forward, his vision beginning to blur. 

The last thing he heard before everything went lack was the woman’s smug voice giving a sarcastic thank you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you have a good day.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for 100 kudos! ;-; I'm so happy to find people are still reading this and giving it so much love and couldn't be more thankful. Updating two day in a row as a treat. Used some names for the vampires, I tried to find ones that weren't idols since I don't feel comfortable making any group the villains.

When Tao slowly regained consciousness on the hard dirt floor, he very slowly was able to open his eyes to the darkness. There was a dull ache in the back of his skull, but other than that he couldn’t feel any major damage. The space was cold and the air felt a bit damp,he was probably in a basement or cellar of some sort. 

Although it wasn’t painful, his throat felt restricted and cold. Upon trying to sit up Tao was greeted with soft metal clanking and the feeling of being pulled. He reached up, touched his throat only to feel a thick metal collar encasing his throat. Letting it wander, he found it was connected to a chain. 

Tao let out a deep sigh, slumping against the wall. This wasn’t too bad yet, but it wasn’t good either. ‘Fricking vampires.’ he mumbled under his breath, tugging on the chain lightly. There was little give to the chain, whatever length it had he was at its limit. The fact he could tell it wasn’t too short and constricting was a good thing, the wolves when he was a child had put him on much shorter leashes as punishment. But from experience he knew the metal would soon start cutting into his skin and leave a nasty mark that would easily scar.

He couldn’t find it in himself to be upset with his choice. It was for the greater good, and he couldn’t dwell on what he had done. There was no guarantee the vampires would keep up their end of the bargain, but at least now Junmyeon would be able to prepare for something or leave. And if Tao caught wind of any sabotage on their end, he could try to intervene. 

Soon the space was filled with the soft clicking of a door unlocking and the dark space was flooded with light as a door opened. Tao squinted at the figure in the doorway, his eyes struggling to adjust to the new amount of light. The male vampire who the initial run in had been with stood beside a woman Tao had never seen before. With the light coming from behind them he couldn’t make out too many details, but by height alone he knew this woman wasn’t the short one from the woods, not to mention she looked much older.

“This is the new witch Byungjoon?” The woman asked, looking at the man. 

“Yes ma’am. Figured he would be more useful then the one the bird boy was hiding.” The man whom Tao figured was named Byungjoon answered. His hand moved to the wall, and a light from above blinked a few times as it turned on. The woman stepped in, eyeing Tao up and down as if he were an item on a store shelf. Tao took the opportunity to look around the room, noticing it was rather large, maybe eight feet in width and twice as long. The door sat slightly off center and more to the right. The chain around his neck was connected to a post in the corner furthest away from the door. There was another post in the other corner, lacking a chain. Only a foot or so away was a bowl full of water. 

The woman found whatever she was looking for in Tao, turning her attention back to Byungjoon. “Have Kai watch over him. We don’t need any escape attempts again.” She ordered, before leaving. The door was shut and locked again, but at least now Tao had a light. He felt tired and sore, but he wasn’t comfortable sleeping when someone new would be coming soon. Not wanting to just sit, he reached up and tried to do something with the metal around his neck. He doubted any magic would work, and his suspicions were confirmed when he was given a shocking pain as he tried to use magic. Just like the wolves, something was in the metal that hurt when magic was used. Great.

Soon the door was open and a guy who didn’t look any older then Tao awkwardly walked in. Tao had to hand it to him, the guy was attractive, bronzed skin and dark hair, clearly fit. A guy like that looked better with confidence, but Kai looked highly uncomfortable and like he wasn’t quite sure what to do. He had a small fold up chair with him that he set up by the door, sinking into it as he stared down Tao with nervousness. 

The first thing Tao noticed was the vampire's eyes, the irises bright red. Newly made vampires, fledgling, would have that color until they matured enough for the color to turn more dull making it easier for them to blend in. They still could have unique colors, but the default would be something more dull.

“When did they turn you?” Tao asked, pulling up his knees and resting his chin on his knees. With how awkward Kai was acting, Tao felt as if the other was more scared of him than he was of the vampire. Kai looked started by the question, looking around as if there was someone else to ask before realizing it was just the two of them in the room. Clearly thi was his first time watching over someone.

“Um….” Kai paused, frowning. “It was pretty recent they said.” Tao raised a brow at the statement, Kai seeming unsure in his own answer. The fact the other had no idea when he turned was a bad sign.

“Are there a lot of new vampires here?” Tao asked. Kai was quick to shake his head and say he couldn’t answer any more questions, But the wide eyes shocked expression he had given was enough of an answer for Tao. 

It all made sense; The rising number of new supernaturals, a new large group of vampires, and heavy amount of disappearances. Someone was trying to make a new vampire clan, probably with the goal of taking over somewhere. It was something the wolves had constantly complained about, a vampire getting cocky and converting large numbers of humans into vampires without teaching them or really taking care of them, their only goal in having enough forces to take over a space and use it as a feeding ground and various other things.

This suddenly was a much worse situation.

It was unlikely the vampires would stop trying to expand, every case Tao knew of a few groups of other species would end up gathering and slaughtering the entire group of vampires in order to stop them from spreading. It was unfair, but the fledglings never knew anything about taking care of themselves and would go into a killing frenzy when they would be left on their own since they didn’t know how to feed properly. The whole thing was a mess and could potentially put their whole world into danger. 

Poor Kai would probably be killed without even knowing why when word got out. 

Tao didn’t bother asking any more questions, Kai didn’t look like he would answer. The vampire had a book he started to pretend to read, But Tao could clearly see the vampire watching him. There wasn’t much Tao could do, so he started drawing with his finger on the dirt floor. At first he started with something basic, trying to draw a tree. He hated to admit it, but he was nowhere near as good of an artist as Kris.

Tao wondered how the wolf was doing, how he would react to Tao being gone. He knew Kris would be enraged over the vampries coming to the house and causing the mess, But Tao wasn’t sure how Kris would feel about Tao himself. A part of him believed Kris would be upset over him being gone, and that the wolf would come out to find him. He wasn’t sure where it was coming from, but it did make him feel a little better. He didn’t want Kris to come here though, knowing there were far more vampires than the elder could handle. 

The next thing Tao tried to draw was a flower, but again it didn't turn out right. He spent his time drawing in the dirt, occasionally looking up to see Kai quickly looking back at his books as if he weren’t watching. It was rather bizarre he was trying to hide, Kai was supposed to be watching him so there was no reason to hide. 

“You’re not drawing magic runes, are you? I’m not supposed to let you do that.” Kai's voice softly asked, and Tao couldn’t stop himself from letting out a muffled chuckle. The fact that Kai was asking him if he was was funny, combined with the fact he was just telling him he wasn’t supposed to do it. Any other watchdog would have yelled at Tao to stop and tied up his hands. Tao hadn’t even considered drawing any magical symbols, the pain from before was enough of a warning not to.

“I’m not, but I’ll stop.” Tao answered. He wiped the dirt off his hangs onto his jeans since there wasn’t another way. “Do you get to give me any food?”

Kai shook his head, looking at the water bowl next to Tao. “Daeun said you only get water for now.” Kai looked equally unhappy with the situation, so Tao held back from pestering him for anything else. Tao crawled over and picked up the bowl, the chain jinling with every movement. It felt degrading with someone being in the room, but Tao was going to just deal with it. Feeling like a dog on a leash was much better than anything else that could have happened to him.

After he drank the water, Tao slumped back against the wall and stared at the door as he waited for whatever was going to happen next to come. 

For hours he sat there, The only sounds being the occasional turning of the page from Kai’s book and his own breathing. No escape plan came to mind, no magic that could free him. 

Tao wasn’t sure when, but he had passed out at some point and was awoken by the door slamming open. Kai jumped to his feet, his entire body ridge and panic filling his eyes. Byungjoon was back, an angry look on his face. He glared at Kai, before stomping over to Tao and grabbing him by the hair and pulling him up roughly.

“It’s feeding time.” Byungjoon stated.

\--------------------

The air in the room felt bitter and cold Junmyeon watched as Yixing patched up Jongdae, his mate's hands shaking as he used his healing magic. The shaking wasn’t due to any strain, Yixing excelled in healing when it came to magic. As far as Junmyeon had observed, Yixing only had an affinity for healing magic. 

The process had been long and slow, The vampires doing more damage to Jongdae then they had thought.

Minseok stood beside Jongdae, holding the siren’s hand as the magic worked it way through him fixing what he had dealt with. There was only so much Yixing could do, Jongdae would need to rest up to deal with the blood loss and aches from being thrown down. Seeing one of his own hurt like this brought a deep sadness to Junmyeon. What made it worse was knowing he didn’t do anything, and Tao was gone because of it.

“It’s alright.” Yixing said, cutting into Junmyeon thoughts. He pulled away from Jongdae and gave him a stiff smile. “I’ve done all I can.” Jongdae nodded his head, giving a soft thank you before getting up. He was a bit shaky, leaning heavily onto Minseok and they left the room. The siren was still in shock, in fear over everything that had happened. He had been attacked in his own home unprovoked, Junmyeon knew that he wouldn’t be willing to be alone any time soon. At least he had Minseok to be with him.

As soon as they left the room Junmyeon slumped onto the bed, staring ahead of him with a broken expression. Although he had felt so horrible, he had to keep in for the sake of the other. But now with just Yixing, he could let the fear and anguish flow freely form him.

“Why?” Junmyeon asked, not able to voice anything else. Why had they come? Why had Tao given himself up? Why had he been so useless and unable to do anything? He should have fought, he should have taken better care of everyone. He should have noticed the vampires.

Warms hand encased Junmyoen cheeks, Yixing face coming into view. Although the smile he usually had was gone, it still felt comforting just having the other there. 

“We tried. If you would have fought, things would have ended up much worse. He chose to go.” Yixing said. His voice was calm, but a bit of sadness clung to the words. “But if we make a plan, we can get him back.”

A flood of questions and doubts entered Junmyeons mind again. How could they get him? They didn’t even know where the vampires were, and it had been a trade. There were so many vampires, it would be a disaster if they tried anything. Maybe if they got Jaebum’s group they might be able to, but what if Tao couldn’t come back? What if they hurt him so bad,or even killed him?

But Junmyeon wasn’t given an opportunity to dwell on his thoughts, flinching at the sound of the front door slamming open. There was an exchanging of words, loudly and heavily mixed with animalistic sounds. Alarmed, The both got up and made their way to the entry area to see a very agitated and pained Kris. His skin was pale and his eyes were darting around, looking for something he wouldn’t be able to find because it wasn’t there. Before Junmyeon could even ask him what was wrong the wolf spoke up.

“Where’s Tao?” Kris asked, his tone heavy with worry. It was something Junmyeon hadn’t seen Kris really use, other than maybe a handful of times over Sehun. But it had never been so strong before. Junmyeon opened his mouth, but no words came out. He didn’t know how to answer. Despite watching everything unfold, he couldn’t voice it to the wolf standing before him.

“Junmyeon, you need to tell me.” Kris said, moving forward towards him. There was no aggression toward Junmyeon in the action, yet Yixing quickly moved in the way. Kris was upset, but it didn’t feel as if any of it was towards Junymeon. Even with Yixing blocking, Kris spoke up again “There’s something wrong. He’s highly distressed…. He’s in pain.”

“How do you know that?” Junmyeon asked, wishing it wasn’t realistic. Wolves could be good at picking up emotions, but there was no way Kris would be able to pick up Tao’s with how far away he was at this time. They hadn’t even been that close where it could have been through a bond. Kris started pacing, fumbling with his hands in another way Junmyeon had never seen before. 

“I can… feel it?” Kris said, but it came out more as a question. “It's hard to explain, but I know something is very wrong. What in the hell happened while I was gone?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank's for reading!


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to post this sooner but we lost our internet.

An intense stinging pain seemed to course through Tao’s body, originating from all the places that had been bitten.His wrist, his throat, his arm, they had bitten anywhere they could. He had been so weakened by the amount of blood they had drained from him all he could do was lay on the old dirt floor, his eyes stuck in a place between half open and closed and he stared blankly at the wall. With how many places he had practically been torn into, it would take much longer then nessacry for Tao to recover, if he even was given a break. There had only been a handful of vampires at the feeding, and he knew for a fact there were far more around the place.

A cold wet cloth was placed on Tao's forehead, to which he was barely able to turn his head and see a guilt ridden Kai above him. “I’m sorry.” The younger vampire said, his voice shaking as he spoke. Tao wished he had the energy to shrug or nod his head, but he couldn’t. None of this was Kai’s fault, he hadn’t once done anything remotely negative to Tao.

“It’s okay.” Tao answered. Thing’s weren’t okay clearly, but there wasn’t anything Tao could say that would fix anything. All he could do was lay there, fading in and out of consciousness with the sole comfort of the wet cloth gracing his skin. Very slowly he was able to regain some energy, but without food or proper rest it wasn’t enough.

When Tao was able to finally keep his eyes open, he slowly sat up and against the wall. Kai offered him the bowl of water with Tao graciously accepting everything he could. The whole time Kai sat quietly beside him, trying his best to not look at Tao. It wasn’t very successful.

“There were others before you. The last girl who started in here, she didn’t make it. Most don’t.” Kai randomly said, staring at the ground. “It was horrible.” There was a deep sadness on the vampires face, mixed heavily with guilt.

Nothing more was said as Kai went back to his chair.

Time passed, Tao unable to keep track of it. With nothing to focus on, nothing to put his energy in, he had no idea if it had been 3 hours or three day. Somewhere in that time period Kai had left and came back with a few bread slices and an apple for Tao to eat. He assumed it had been a few days, Byungjoon appearing for another round of feeding every time Tao was on the verge of feeling okay.

The cycle was vicious; eating, resting, then being bitten over and over and losing all his blood. Witches blood wasn’t better or worse than a human, but due to Witches natural self healing abilities, much more blood could be taken without threatening to kill them. A human would need days to recover, whereas Tao could probably be drained every day. But it was starting to wear on Tao, each time it was harder and harder to get up and more painful to be bitten. His healing was slow, instead of healing him it was keeping him from declining at this point.

Tao tried to be strong, never showing his pain or fear to the vampires. But it was hard, so damn hard and with his body being hurt and nothing to relieve his mind, he slowly began to crack. Byungjoon came in for a feeding again, Tao was barely able to keep his eyes open as the vampire grabbed a holding of the metal collar and drug Tao out of the room. Tao weezed out, unable to breathe properly with the metal cutting into his throat. With how many times he had been dragged, the jeans he was wearing now had holes, his exposed skin scraping on the ground and joining the bruises growing on his flesh. 

Normally Tao would try to stand himself, but he couldn’t. The vampire had to lift him up and for him into the chair, forcing his head back and hooking a much shorter chain to the back of the chair to force his head up. Through blurry vision Tao saw the vampires in the room, much more than last time. There were at least 10. Before the first one even moved forward Tao could feel the pain that was to come.

The first one moved forward, a woman, sinking her teeth into the piece of flesh between his neck and shoulder, right over the scar Kris had left. As her teeth pierced his skin a burning pain shot through Tao’s body, an involuntary whimper of pain escaping from him. He started shaking as his body was unable to deal with the abuse anymore. “Stop.” Tao hissed out, pleasing for it all to be over. He felt as if he were on the verge of passing out yet at the same time he suddenly felt much more awake. Not completely better, but it was like there was a spark of something inside of him coming alive. 

The woman let out a sound of pain, pulling away from Tao suddenly. The rest of the vampires who had been chatting away or doing their own thing looked over to see what was wrong, many of them gaining shocked expressions. Byungjoon stared at Tao for a moment, before ordering someone to go get Daeun. Tao didn’t care, he was just relieved they weren’t coming near him at the moment, even if whatever he was doing was causing pain. The protection magic must have kicked in, fighting against whatever restraint was in the metal around his neck. But Tao was somehow fully aware and able to feel everything.

Time dragged on, before the woman who had assigned Kai to look after him walked in. All the vampires instantly moved out of her way, others looking away from her or at her with reverence. She was their creator, the one causing all of this mess to happen. She wasn’t too old, only looking to be in her thirties, but all the young faces around her added years to her look. Unfazed by everything, Daeun moved forward and inspected Tao, touching his skin that had been bitten only minutes before. Her facial expression faltered, clearly unprepared for the pain she felt. 

“You’re strong.” She stated, leaning down to look at Tao in the eye, “Much stronger than any of the others. Although by your pained expression, I’m guessing this isn’t even your choice either.” With how close she was, Tao could see Her eyes were a deep brown with gold flecks, with a very subtle red ring around the irses. In all the times Tao had intreacted With Luhan and Kyungsoo, neither one of them had ever let any sort of red slip into their eyes. They were able to keep stable, even when Luhan and to reduce his blood intake due to the contract. Yet this woman was creating a hoard of vampires while her eyes still had a crimson splash in them. If Tao wasn’t it so much pain, he might have felt far more alarmed by the situation. 

“It happens.” Tao answered, staring right back at her. Although he couldn’t see his own eyes, they were completely purple, though they kept shifting to an almost brown color every so often and showing his own instability. A smile formed on her face at his words, and she quickly straightened herself.  
“Byungjoon.” She called out, and said male quickly rushed over to her. “Bring me a pen and paper.” He did as he was told, going out of Tao’s line of sight and returning with said items. She took them, and used her free hand to wave in the air. “The rest of you may go now, you may feed on one of the others later. This one will no longer be used for blood.” Instantly the room cleared of all of them But Byungjoon, the vampire remained an arms length away from his leader. She quickly got to work, scribbling on the paper. All Tao could do was watch her hand move silently, unable to see what she was writing from the angle he was seated at. She took her time, writing more and more until she seemed satisfied. 

“You’re going to sign this,’ She said, holding the paper out to Tao and offering him the pen. “Otherwise, I can make things much worse for you. Think about it, you won’t have to be locked up in the room for much longer and used as a blood bag. I could make things so much greater for you if you were to be of use to me.” The offer came as no shock to Tao, he knew from the moment he offered himself that this was what they really wanted from him. His protection magic was working, keeping the vampires at bay for now, but there was no way to know how long it would last. Just because it stopped them from biting him it didn't mean it would stop them from cutting into him or finding other ways to obtain blood from him.

As much as he hated the idea of accepting, Tao knew it was the better choice. Over everything, he needed to stay alive and conscious. Even if he was restricted, just being able to do something would help the situation. Besides, there was a high chance that there would be some loophole in the words he could work his way around. So Tao took the pen, guiding his hand to the long line she had drawn. His vision was still messed up and he couldn’t properly read the thing, but he could still sign. Since Tao was already bleeding, no new cut was needed to be made before he started writing his name. 

With the paper signed, Daeun ordered for Tao to be taken back to his room and to be properly taken care of. A small shiver ran through Tao at the words, only ever knowing those words in a negative context. But he had signed as she wanted, and a contract was a two way street. It would be wasteful for her to have him tortured or killed after signing the contract. Tao stumbled his way back to the room, Byungjoon being much less aggressive as he led the witch back. The door was open, and Tao was surprised to see someone had dragged in a bed and small table in the room. He was still connected to the long chain once again, But Tao was grateful that at least now he wouldn’t have to be on the hard dirt 24/7.

Just as Tao started to wonder where Kai was, said vampire made his way into the room holding a tray that had a few food items on it,the only one Tao could identify off the top of his head was a salad. Kait smiled at Tao when he saw him, but quickly let it fall away when Byungjoon looked over at him. “Watch him.” The older vampire ordered, before leaving the room and rather roughly shutting the door. The moment he was gone Tao sat on the bed, unable to stand any longer with how weak he was. Kai was quick to move over, setting the food on the table next to Tao. “I’m…..glad you're okay.” Kai stated, his voice small and uncertain. Tao could understand it wouldn’t be good if anyone though Kai had some sort of attachment to Tao. They didn’t do much together, but with how little Kai left, it was understandable that the younger vampire had grown attached to Tao in some weird way. 

Kai offered the salad to Tao, which he happily accepted and started to dig through. It tasted a bit weird, having a lot more fruit and nuts than one would have figured for a salad, but at that point Tao just wanted something real to eat. As he ate he spoke, not caring if anyone thought ill of him. “I’m glad to, I don’t think I could have handled that anymore.” Tao stated. “Thank you for the food. Did you make it?” Tao asked, eyeing the small dish of what looked like stew and another dish he couldn’t begin to figure out what it was other than the top looked heavily burnt. 

Kai shook his head at the question. “No, The other witch does all the cooking. Most of us don’t have a reason to eat, but there are a few people around here that can eat..” Kai looked down at the mystery dish too, a confused look on his face. “I will admit, I have no idea what it is either. But the kid eats completely fine himself, so it must be fine.” Tao swap the now gone salad for the stew, digging right into it. It tasted good, and Tao slowly felt the pain start to fade away as his body started to gain a bit of strength back.

There was a knock on the door, and Kai quickly moved to answer it. A woman Tao had never seen before stood in the doorway, a chain in her hand. “Daeun want’s this one in here too, they’ve run out of space.” Kai stepped aside, the woman walking and pulling tightly on the chain behind her. Tao felt his heart sink when he saw the other witch, no longer paying attention to his food. The vampire hooked up the scrawny looking teen to the other chain connected to the corner, shoving him on the ground in the process. The teen stumbled, falling on his hand and wincing in pain. The whole time he kept his eyes trained on the ground, too afraid to even look up. Once the woman was satisfied, she left without so much as a word. 

When she was gone, the teen slowly looked up, his eyes going wide as they met with Tao’s.

“Oh no, They got you too.” Yugyeom said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are drawing closer to the end of this fic, hopefully I can wrap everything up all nice for you all and everything makes sense. I tried really hard to put mostly important information in. I can't make any promises, But this fic should be under 35 chapters, I'm hoping between 30-35. As always, Thank you for reading and stay safe out there.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, sorry It's been a while when I was on such a roll for a while. I'll be taking a break from writing anything for an unknown amount of time. I'll be explaining some personal stuff in the end notes explaining why if anyone care to know.  
This chapter dumps a lot of stuff about witches I believe.  
As Always, I hope you enjoy.

The chain attached around Yugyeom’s neck was just short enough from stopping him from being able to get anywhere near Tao, leaving the younger witch unable to even touch the table nor the bed. With how thin, pale and bruised up the younger look, Tao desperately wished he could let him sleep on the bed. But he couldn't, so Tao resorted to giving him both the pillows and the blankets from the bed. Tao had tried to move it, but the frame was ridiculously weighed down, and the bed couldn’t be removed from it. 

“It’s him, the kitchen witch.” Kai pointed out, staring at Yugyeom. Unlike with the woman, Yugyeom didn’t shy away or look down when Kai spoke to him. “You guys know each other?” Kai asked, looking back at Tao.

Tao nodded, the frown still on his face from earierly. “We have seen each other a few times.”

Things didn’t change much after that, other then Tao not being dragged off to get his blood sucked from him. Instead, Yugyeom would leave once a day to go make food, and sometimes do other things he wouldn’t talk about no matter how Tao asked. It didn’t appear they were taking blood from him, the younger witch didn’t look any weaker or more beat up when he would return. But there was just something wrong with him when he would return, and a scared look in the back of his eyes like he had seen something he shouldn’t have. 

After what Tao could assume was a week he couldn't help but worry. The contract had been signed, yet they hadn't come down and asked him to do anything. He had long since regain his strength now that he had proper food and an okay sleeping arrangement, yet still whenever someone would come to check on them they would give Tao an once over then retrieve Yugyeom. Again and again, each day Tao grew more anxious not knowing what they were planning on doing with him.

But for better or for worse, they did end up coming.

Byungjoon came, asking questions, asking Tao to do small magical tasks. Nothing too crazy, asking Tao to try protective magic of the sort on a small scale. He did this again and again, one time asking Tao to see if he could stick his hand in fire without burning, another time he asked for something to block out the sunlight. Sometimes He didn’t even want Tao to test on himself, but for him to try it on an object. It became routine, just small things, so when the door was given one knock swiftly opened, Tao was ready for whatever was to come.

This time Daeun herself came while Yugyeom was out, Unlocking the chain from Tao and leaving him only with the collar. The action was surprising, Even with the contract Tao could potentially run. It would be a foolish thing to do, but he could have. “Walk with me.” she commanded, and Tao did, quickly standing from the bed and following her. 

She led Tao down the hall, passing quite a few other hallways. Wherever they were, it was much larger than Tao had envisioned from his few trips of being dragged to the feeding room. At this point it was more like a large network of underground passageways. “You know, I’ve learned quite a bit about your kind in the year or so through my test, and I’m quite amazed.” Daeun said suddenly, drawing Tao’s attention back to her. Since there was no question about it, Tao decided to keep his mouth shut and see where she was going with it. 

Every time they passed a vampire they would bow to her quickly before scurrying out of sight. She continued walking for a bit, turning down two more paths before speaking up again. “Even witches don’t seem to know much about their own kind, which is rather a shame. It made getting what information we wanted a bit more,” Daeun passed, and Tao felt himself tense up internally, “...difficult, but it is still doable.” 

Everything Tao knew he had learned from his sister, but even then there seemed to be large gaps. Tao never knew if it was because she didn’t want to tell him or if she didn’t know, but it wasn’t something he ever worried about. 

“I’ve always wondered why there are so few witches, when beings like you can be so powerful and useful. If you think about, Witches should be at the top of the food chain. You guys can do so much.” She stopped, looking to Tao for the first time since they had started walking. “Do you know why your population is so low?” She asked, her eyes boring into Tao.

Tao wished he could snap back and say it was because others would kill them, force them into contracts and ruin them. But that wasn't the answer she wanted, and honestly, Tao did realize she had a point. Before Tao could think of another answer, Daeun cut in.“Even you don’t seem to have an answer to that.” She let out a low chuckle and shook her head, before turning back and continuing down the hall. 

Daeun led him over to a rather large door opening it to reveal a decently sized room, albeit it was completely empty other than a single bench facing the center of the room. No other seating, windows, tables, nothing other than the dirt floor that had large drag marks on it, wooden walls and the light hanging from the ceiling. There were two doors connected to the room, but it didn’t add much to the overwhelming amount of brown in the room. 

“Sit, please.” Daeun asked, before sitting on the bench herself. Tao gave the room another look, still seeing nothing before cautiously sitting. 

“I considered breeding, but it turns out your kind is such a waste when it comes to that.” Dauen spoke up, her voice turning bitter and cold. “Turn out when one of you bastards are born, you kill your mother every time. You just suck the life force right out of her. And here I thought it was a joke when they said you guys were so tied to death and hated. Turn out where there is smoke there's fire, you guys get so much hatred for a reason.” At that she turned to Tao, giving him that intense stare that made him want to shrink away. “You killed someone just by existing.”

Tao paled, feeling his mood drop significantly the more the conversation went on. Never before had he heard anything like this, and he desperately wanted to not believe it. But it made sense, in some twisted horrible way it did. It made sense why Tao never knew his mother or father, he had never heard of a witch with a child or a witch talk about their parents. He always knew he and his siblings weren't blood related, but he would have never thought it would have been because of something like this.

“What’s your point in all this?” Tao asked. He wanted to add some spite to his words, say something to fight back but his words lacked any bite. Why in the world had she walked him here just to say such horrible things? Why did she even know this. 

At his remark she smiled, but there was nothing warm about it. It was a cold calculated look. “Well,” She stood up looking at one of the doors, a set of double ones that were large in size,“Turn out there is another much more..interesting reason there are so few of you. Bring him in.” She called out the last line loudly, to which the door opened and a large metal cage was dragged into the room by to vampires. In the cage was Yuygeom, his hands bound together around one of the bars as he looked at Tao with raw terror in his eyes.

“What in the hell are you doing?” Tao asked, glaring at Daeun. “Let him go.”

“Now, now, now, you made an agreement Tao.” She tisked, walking over to the cage. Yugyeom tried to move away from her, but he was stuck in place. Daeun pet his head, before roughly grabbing his hair and looking at Tao. “You are going to kill this witch here. He isn’t of any use.”

Tao took a step back, looking between Daeun and Yugyom with horror. She let go of him, walking over to Tao and grabbing him, dragging him back to the cage. “You’re going to kill him and absorb his magic so we can use you properly. Why have a handful of weak witches when you can have one powerful one. Surely you have done it before, you had to have gotten that protection magic from somewhere. Kai’s told me your magic isn’t purple.” 

“I’ve never killed someone.” Tao hissed out, trying to pull out of her grip, but she was far stronger than him. “I refuse.” At his words Daeun frowned, gripping on Tao tight enough to make him whimper in pain. 

“Choosing that option will only cause you problems. I won’t just let the pain eat you slowly, no, I’ll make sure you are tormented far more than before until you agree. I’ll keep you just alive enough you feel everything.” She threatened.

“I don’t care, I won’t do it.” 

Tao was slammed to the ground, pain shooting through him again. “So be it.” She spat out, before kicking hard into Tao’s side. “You could have made this easst for yourself,but go on acting like you have some sort of decency. I’ll be sure to break that out of you soon enough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and for the support!
> 
> Sorry for the excuses, But I wanted to just put something out there. I'm going to finish this fic even if it's the last thing I do. Stay safe out there guys. And as Always, Thank you.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the kind comments on the last Chapter. I really hope thing one isn't to much of a mess.

“They have to be in the city, that’s where you guys have ran into them every time, and there has been no report of any sort of group leaving the city.” Junmyeon stated, looking around at the faces gathered at the table. Everyone in the house sat at the table, with the residents of the sunshine house were on call with them over the phone. Many days had been spent trying to find Tao and Yuygeom, or even signs of the vampires, yet there hadn’t been so much as a sighting. 

Kris was pacing around the room, not able to calm down since Tao had left. There would be some times where he would appear to settle and even get a few hours of sleep, but the wolf couldn’t help but be anxious and look for answers. Junmyeon had a rough idea of what was going on with Kris, but he wasn’t sure what to make of it. The scenario didn’t seem possible, and with everything that had happened it didn’t make sense. 

Then again, anything was possible. 

“We should expand our search, there is a chance they could be camped out at the city limits.” Jaebum said, his voice filled with fake confidence. He was clearly grasping at straws, there being any sort of a group at the city limits was a long shot. There were virtually no buildings, making it unlikely the vampires could be out and about as much as they were. They wouldn’t be able to get around with all that sunlight. 

“Well, keep us up to date with anything you guys get.” Junmyeon said, glancing around the table. There was a click on the phone leaving the room in a heavy silence. Junmyeon hadn’t wanted to tell Jaebum that Sehun and Kris had checked the outskirts, figuring it would help ease the others by being able to look for themselves. 

The silence was interrupted by Chanyeol’s phone going off. He quickly got up and ran out the room answering it, but Junmyeon could hear the voice on the other end, Chanyeol’s human friend. 

“You all should do as you need, I will tell you if something comes up.” Junmyeon dismissed the table. Everyone scattered, wishing to be released from the heavy feeling in the air that had been hanging around since Tao had left. Only Yixing and Kris hung back with Junmyeon. As much as he wanted to tell Kris to go rest, he knew the wolf wouldn’t. 

“We are missing something.” Kris said, looking up at Junmyeon for the first time. 

“Kris-”

“A group of over 15 vampires can’t just vanish Junmyeon.” Kris snapped, his eyes flickering gold. “They are there, we just have to find them. I should be out there now.” At these words Yixing stepped forward, placing a hand on Kris’s shoulder. The action seemed to instantly calm down the wolf.

“Kris, you going out there and wearing yourself down isn’t going to help anything. You need to be in good shape so you can help when we find him.” Yixing said calmly. Junmyeon nodded his head in agreement. Junmyeon could see on Kris’s face that he saw the logic in the elders' words, and it looked as if he was about to agree.

But just as quickly the panic seemed to hit Kris, his eyes flickering gold again as he shook Yixing off. His face went completely pale and he stumbled backwards. Yixing stepped forward in alarm, ready to grab Kris if he fell. This was worse, far worse than anything Kris had done yet. “Something’s wrong.” Kris managed to spit out and he reached out and gripped the top of one of the dinning chairs for support. His arm was shaking violent, his knuckles white with how tightly he gripped the chair. It ended up snapping under the pressure, but Kris hardly reacted. 

“Kris, use your words.” Yixing said, his voice calm despite what had just happened.He was clearly trying to sooth Kris again, but it wasn't working in the slightest. Kris didn’t answer, he simply stood there shaking and looking on the brink of pain.

Just as quickly that Kris started freaking out, he went completely lax again, looking at Junmyeon in confusion. 

“I-” Kris cut himself off, looking down at the broken piece of chair in his hand. “What in the hell is going on?” Junmyeon and Yixing looked at each other. At this point, Junmyeon was more than certain with his crazy theory. The only problem was what Kris and Tao’s reaction would be. Jeabum’s warning for long ago made sense, the other must have caught on much further back what was going on. 

But before Junmyeon could delve into what he believed was going on, Chanyeol practically sprinted into the room, phone to his ear still. “Guys. Listen.” Chanyeol said, a hint of excitement to his voice. He pulled his phone from his ear, touched the screen then held it out in front of him. The screen was completely blank. “Say that again Baekhyun.”

There was a silence for a moment, before the human voice filled the room. 

“Well, What I was telling Chanyeol, If a person wanted to disappear without leaving town, the old subway system would be your best bet.” Baekhyun said. “Nobody knows much about it so nobody really goes down there. My mom said the space was taken over by a drug lord back in the day, but I think it was just she didn’t want us kids going down somewhere that could be so dangerous. It has been abandoned for years.”

“There is a subway system? I've never heard of there being one.” Junmyeon spoke up, his brow furrowing. With the amount of times he had gone to the city and gone around, he had never seen anything to indicate there being a subway system, no signs, buildings, tracks, nothing. Surely something that big would have some sort of remains. 

“Well, they never finished building it. I don’t even think they laid down the tracks. From what I know, they lost a lot of funding over something and gave up on it. I think there is only one entrance that hasn’t been filled in but it’s not easy to get to.” Baekhyun revealed, seemingly excited to share information. 

“And you know where it is and can show us?” Chanyeol asked, getting a hum in confirmation from the male on the phone. The tension in the air slipped away as a new option was opened up to them. It was probably their last possible option, but it sounded somewhat promising. Kris looked ready to go out the door, but Junmyeon stopped him. 

“Thank you Baekhyun, you're the best. I’ll text you when we want to go.” Chanyeol said, saying his goodbyes to the human and hanging up. 

“We can’t just barge in there, we need to think about this. The moment they think we are onto them, who's to say they won’t try to harm Tao?” Junmyeon spoke up, voicing a thought that had sat in his head. They were still possibly outnumbered, even with the combination of Jaebums group. And they knew nothing about the subway system. If they were smart, they could gather information first. 

“They've seen us, It’s not like we can sneak out way in.” Kris answered, a hint of annoyance in his voice. A small clinking sound of glass drew Junmyeon's attention away as he spotted Kyungsoo across the way collecting cups and putting them in the sink. While Tao was gone, the vampire had completely taken over running the kitchen. Seeing the vampire gave Junmyeon idea, though he wasn’t sure how much he liked the it.

“Kyungsoo, can you come over here?” Junmyeon called out, to which the vampire made his way over. “Kyungsoo, would you be willing to check out the abandoned subway system to see if the vampires who took Tao are staying there?”

The shorter male blinked up at Junmyeon, his rounded eyes looking a bit confused. “Why not Luhan? He’s much better at that kind of stuff.” Junmyeon shook his head.

“Luhan has been seen by them, they would attack him on sight. They haven’t seen you since you didn’t leave your room, let alone have you ever left this house. If they were to see you, they might try to recruit you. Or you could ask to join them. They seem to be keen at growing.” Junmyeon asked. He hated the idea of tossing Kyungsoo into the lion’s den, but he didn’t have a better idea. Kyungsoo had every reason to say no, not only was it dangerous, but he hadn’t been around more than one other vampire since he had left his old living place which hadn’t been that good, so it could easily overwhelm him.

Kyungsoo stood silently for a moment, weighing his options.

“I’ll do it.”  
\---------

“I shouldn’t have agreed to this,” Kyungsoo complained to himself, staring at the gate before him. Two large metal doors were slightly ajar, almost completely hidden by the amount of plant’s growing over and around it. When the human Chanyeol had spoken about said it was well hidden, he hadn’t been kidding. He had agreed to go in since he hadn’t seemed to be too difficult, but now that he stood just outside the door leading to an unknown, he wasn’t so sure of himself.

It had been so long since he had been out. And now he was out only to go in somewhere he would essentially be trapped. He knew he would be able to leave, the others wouldn't just leave him in there, but the fear still simmered in the back of his mind. Once someone was trapped once, it was much harder to not be fearful of it happening again.

“If you are worried, I can go in with -” Baekhyun tried to offer, but he was quickly cut off with a chorus of no’s, Kyungsoo’s being one of them. As nervous as Kyungsoo was starting to become, he absolutely didn’t want to drag the human into this. There would be no way Junmyeon or Chanyeol would allow it either. The Human was already too involved just knowing he was going in. 

“I got this, just, don’t leave me in here. ” Kyungsoo said, pushing the door slightly more open and taking a step in. Only a few feet into the space was clocked in total darkness, there being no windows or lighting to be seen. Vampires had the perk of being able to see clearly in the dark, if not even better then in the daylight. Soon as he was in and the door was shut his eyes would completely adjust. 

“All you need to do is see if there are any hints of anyone being down there, then come back.” Junmyeon said. Even without the finer details, Kyungsoo understood. Junmyeon was using vague words so the human wouldn’t pick up what they were actually doing, a good call. Kyungsoo gave a single nod before completely stepping in and closing the door behind him, not bothering to give the actions a 2nd thought. 

Quickly his eyes adjusted to his surroundings, a concert passageway with dirt flooring. The walls had the occasional graffiti tag or art piece, but he could easily see where they stopped being drawn without even moving in further. Kyungsoo started making his way down the passage, careful trying to listen for any sound, but the only thing he could hear was the distant rumblings of traffic outside of the space, which slowly grew more silent the further he made his way. Only a short way in there were giant cutaways in the wall, showing an adjacent space. The area he had entered appeared to be where the subway would have had an outside portion, so he guessed that this area and the once next to it were where the two sets of tracks would have gone in their separate directions. 

For a mass majority of the line the two tunnels were side by side, and Kyungsoo wondered how much longer he would have to go before he ran into some sort of platform. He couldn’t imagine the vampires setting up a camp in the rail line, it would be more logical to set it up in one of the spaces that would be more room-like and be lockable. The space was unsettling, an empty space clearly abandoned. As he walked he passed a few old tarps, pipes and stacks of track that were never installed. A few puddles also were found in a section filled with rusty pipes in a side part, filling the silence with the occasional dripping sounds. 

Kyungsoo was starting to worry that he would never find a station when he saw some old paint markers on the concert with an arrow labeled ‘Station 3b.’ It was only a short walk more than he stopped what looked to be an unfinished subway platform. The space was barebones, only the concert foundation was set up. Kyungsoo made his way up the crumbling steps, and found a narrow pathway that split in opposite directions. This is where things would start to be troublesome, he would have to somehow pick which way to go. 

He ended up going left for no particular reason other than most people would instinctively go right. He only went a short distance before he ran a pair of stairs that went downwards into a flooded area. The likelihood of any base being down there was almost zero, and Kyungsoo didn't feel like making noise by walking around in the water. As he turned to go back, he noticed amongst the columns that stuck out from the wall’s to give the passage some detail and added depth was another passageway, hidden right in plain sight. Instead of turning back, he cautiously made his way down the narrow corridor. 

There was a door only a few feet in, surprisingly unlocked. Kyungsoo was considering just heading back since there had been no sign of life around,and he felt like he had been stuck down here for hours, the cramp passageway making him feel very uncomfortable. He decided if the door was unlocked he would go in, but if it wasn’t he was going to go back and tell them he saw nothing. Giving the door a small nudge, it easily slid open and revealed a room that looked in just as poor condition as the rest of the place, but like it had actually been used at some point. And there was even a single working lighting hanging from the ceiling, giving the space the smallest amount of light. Lining the walls here old rusted bunk beds missing her mattresses. A few empty crates filled the room, along with gross looking bedding and empty cans. 

“You shouldn’t be here.” A quiet voice said, starling Kyungsoo and making him step back. On the other side of the room stood a male with bronzed skin and dark hair, staring at Kyungsoo with confused eyes that were red. A vampire, a fairly new one at that. His instinct was to run for it and never look back, not wanting to have a situation again, but Kyungsoo didn’t move. He had a task to complete, and this kid didn’t appear to be trying to attack or come after him. If anything, there was this hidden look of interest in the other vampires' eyes.

“I didn’t think anyone else would be herei.” Kyungsoo said, quickly forming a lie. “I’m too sensitive to the sun and thought there wouldn’t be anyone else in here.” That part wasn’t a full lie, Kyungsoo wasn’t a fan of being out in the sun. He burned easily. But he did like being inside and looking out the window at the world. 

The other vampire's expression quickly shifted, and he let out the softest oh. He looked conflicted glancing back through the door he must have come through on the other side of the room. “Are you….?” The asked, seeming to be unsure if he should even say the word. “Who are you?” But Kyungsoo saw it as the perfect opportunity. 

“Yes, I’m a vampire. And my name is Do.” Kyungsoo answered. “Who are you?”

“Oh, um, I’m Kai.”

For a moment they stared at each other, the younger one looking like he really wanted to ask more questions. But he didn’t, so Kyungsoo went on. “You look like you’ve never ran into another one before. Are you alone?”

Kai quickly shook his head. “No, I know other’s. I’ve don’t go out much so don’t run into people. This is only my second patrol.” Kyungsoo felt a jolt of sadness hit him over the words, knowing all too well what it was like to not be allowed to see the outside world. But at the same time, It gave him an idea. Just by how the younger one was acting Kyungsoo could tell he didn’t like being stuck down here, that he wanted to go out and see things. And then there were others, clearly a lot of them if they were going out on patrolls. 

But there was still the chance he could be reading everything wrong the new vampire didn’t want to leave. The moment Kyungsoo made any sort of offer he would sound the alarm and Kyungsoo would find himself in deep trouble. It was a gamble, it would be smart to build something up and try to do something. But time wasn’t on Kyungsoo side, and a run in like this was a one in a million chance. According to Junmyeon, Tao was in danger, and Kyungsoo knew the longer Kai was stuck down here with whomever his sire was harder it would be to get him to leave. 

Kyungsoo didn’t consider himself a gambler, but really hoped this wasn’t the biggest mistake he would ever make.

“Well Kai, What would you say If I told you I wanted you to run away with me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope this doesn't feel too out of place. I rewrote this a few times, and this is the best i think i can do for this chapter. There is a lot of important information and details i have to throw in without giving everything away, and I really hope it doesn't get to confusing.
> 
> Also random fact I don't think I will include in this story, But the 'Sunshine House' has that name because of Yugyeom in this. When he was a kid and taken in by Got7 he said there house was 'a Sunshine house full of happiness and light and warmth,' so they kinda stuck with the name. Yugyeom doesn't remember saying it. 
> 
> As always, thank you for reading.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to get this out. I decided to just finish writing everything, then edit the parts if needed when I post. I'm super worried that I'm going to be disappointing everyone since I have none of the confidence I did in the first chapter.

To say Kai was nervous was an understatement, he was downright terrified. Although there was a patrol to make sure nobody was breaking into their place, he had never heard anything about anyone actually coming in. And now there was someone, someone he couldn’t help but find to be interesting, who was asking him to leave with them. Someone was asking him to go out, something he had always wanted to do despite Daeun’s and Byungjoon’s comments about how horrible outside was, despite their claims the sun would kill him. He didn’t doubt them before, they both had said the same thing, yet here was another vampire, who had to have come from the outside and gone through the sunlight. 

But there was little time for questions like that right now, he could hear faint footsteps behind him. Soon another person on watch would come by,and Kai wasn’t sure it would be a good idea for the others to see Do. The others weren’t the nicest to say the least. 

“You need to hide.” Kai said, grabbing the smaller male and pushing him towards the crates. There weren't many, but if he stuck low he should be able to hide. Do looked confused, but quickly did as Kai told him. He just managed to creep down far enough when the other vampire entered the space, looking around. 

It was some female he didn’t know the name of, the other vampires didn’t like talking so much to Kai. “Who were you talking to?” She asked, her tone harsh and accusatory. It made Kai even more worried about her finding Do, and he instantly decided that keeping the other safe was his priority. 

“There was a rat.” Kai quickly lied,keeping his gaze on the women. She gave him a dirty look before turning and heading away. “Fucking weirdo.” She mumbled as she left. Kai waited until long after he was unable to hear her footsteps before he turned his attention back to Do, who by then had stood up again and looked to where she had gone with an odd expression. While the other vampire looked somewhat indifferent, there was a hint of something else there. Whether it was anger or pain Kai could not decipher, but it made him feel downhearted.

“You shouldn’t have to put up with that.” Do said, turning his attention back to Kai. “I don’t know what they are teaching you down here, but I can assure you it’s wrong.” Kai didn’t disagree with the statement, he knew it wasn’t right. Just like how horrible he felt over what happened to all the witches that would be brought in. But there wasn’t anything he could do.

They stood there in silence looking at each other, Do shifting around in his spot. The more Kai thought the offer over, the better it sounded. But he couldn’t just leave not knowing what had happened to the Witch he had been asked to look over. Something in his gut told him something bad had happened, adding on how Byungjoon was acting. Whenever the Witches would get punished he always would be extra volatile, switching from a mood of twisted enjoyment over getting to do as he pleased to one of anger over not getting what he wanted from the witch. 

Maybe If he could get at least one of the witches out he would be okay with going. He still saw the younger one from the kitchen around, but never had the chance to get close enough to figure out what had happened. The kid did have a limp now, so whatever happened to the other had to be worse since he didn’t come back.

Kai took a deep breath despite having no need to, the action alone bringing comfort to him. “I can’t leave yet, I have a-,” He paused wondering if the word friend applied in this situation. He and the witch weren’t close, but out of everyone there he had been the nicest. So he decided to use it. “I have a friend I’m worried about back there somewhere. I don’t want to leave without them.”

Do nodded. “Can you get him out?”

“I don’t even know where he is. He’s a witch, they took him and I haven’t seen him.” Kai said. Do tensed up on the word witch, his eyes going slightly wider. Somehow Kai must have struck a nerve or something.

“Is he really tall and has dark circles under his eyes? And his eyes sometimes turn purple, or I think Orange is the other color?” Do asked, hitting the mark all too perfectly. 

“You know him?”

“That’s my packs witch, Tao.”

\---

Midday was their best bet, when they got out the sun would be on their side to slow down the vampires at least. But with there being only one entrance, getting in would be a challenge. Kai had offered to make a distraction in order to give them a better chance, but he still had warned there would be many vampires around. There were at least two dozen vampires that Kai knew of, and there were probably more. 

There had been a light snow in the morning, leaving a thin layer of white wherever that could be seen, but it wouldn’t hinder anything. “It is for the better.” Junmyeon had offhandedly commented, making most of the group wonder what he had ment. It had come as a surprise that Yixing had chosen to stay home and Junmyeon came without him, but it had been a good idea to have someone stay home with those who could not join.

Right at the time discussed the vampire who must have been Kai came to massive doors slowly, instantly taking shelter under the umbrella Kyungsoo had brought to block out the sun. There was a look of genuine shock on his face as he looked around at the surrounding and mixing of people gathered. There was little time for introductions, Kai was forced to quickly explain the layout and what he knew. Between when he and Kyungsoo had spoken and now,he had explored as much as he could and had narrowed down where Tao and the other Witches were kept to one area that most of the vampires weren’t allowed to go on.

“After I make the distraction, you won’t have much time. This is the only way out, and there isn’t anywhere you can hide where they won’t find you.” Kai explained, a hint of fear in his voice. 

“Just do what you can Kai and get out. There isn’t much more we can do.” Junmyeon said, giving the Vampire a small smile of encouragement. 

“These Vampires are a danger to us all.” Jaebum said. “Once we get our witches out, You all need to stick together and get out. We will be trying to stop as many as we can, but taking them all out isn't worth losing any of you.” He gestured to the rest of his pack who would be going in slightly after Junmyeon pack as to not clog up the space. They also had the goal of blocking off the entrance when they were leaving and keeping the vampires back as long as they could.

This was going to be a mess. 

Kai disappeared back in and they were forced to wait the 10 minutes it would take for him to do the distraction. They had no idea what he was going to do since he hadn’t told them, but he had assured them it would get a lot of attention. They were weary of it all being a trap, but Kyungsoo seemed adamant that Kai wanted to be free and wouldn’t sabotage them like that.

They knew when to make their move when to everyone surprised there had been a loud explosion sound that had been muffled by the ground. Quickly the Exo pack moved, following The path Kyungsoo had taken earlier, trying to be as quiet as they could. It wasn’t working well with how many of them there were, but whatever Kai had done was keeping any of the vampires from checking out the entrance. They passed the room Kyungsoo had made it to, following the basic instruction Kai had ended up giving until they reached a space that looked more lived in. It still looked as unfinished as the rest of the subway, but there had been an effort to set up the space for use. 

Before they had the chance to reach the area they needed, they ran into their first vampire. The moment she saw the group her eyes went wide and she let out the most inhuman screech, a sound loud enough to alert anything nearby. 

Kris was the first to react, killing her within moments. Despite Junmyeon's protest he fully turned into a wolf and ran off in the direction they were supposed to go. Sehun, Luhan and Chanyeol were quick to run after him, Leaving Kyungsoo and Junmyeon and the sounds of someone running at them from a different hallway. Junymeon was more prepared, Lifting the table up and propping it in the way. Killing wasn’t a thing the elder liked to do, even if these vampires were dangerous. If he could just hold them back until Jaebum or one if his pack could deal with it, it would be better.

Kyungsoo caught onto what Junmyeon wanted and started pulling other furniture from their places and stacking it against the table. He dragged a book shelf over, then a few chairs. It wasn’t the best, but it did it’s job and they watched the structure shake, but not move as the vampire tried to break through it. It wouldn’t hold long, but it was enough. 

From where Kris and the others had gone Kai, appeared, looking very shocked. “The wolf-” He began, but he didn’t even need to finish.

“He’s tearing right through them.” Junmyeon stated, getting a quick nod. “You two block this until the others get here, I need to catch up with them.” Out of the household, Kris had the most violent tendencies, so it didn’t come as a surprise. The problem was Junmyeon knew the wolf wouldn’t know when would be the proper time to stop. 

Junmyeon ran

It didn’t take long to find them, Chanyeol trying to work the lock on a sturdy set of doors as the others stood around watching for any other vampire that might be an issue. Knowing they didn’t have time, Junmyoen nudged Chanyeol out of the way and used a small amount of water to unlock the door. There was little noise to be heard, down the halls, which was a bit odd in such a situation. There were loads of vampires, why weren’t they around? They knew they were there.

Although the door was unlocked, something was blocking it from opening. It took all of them shoving against the doors to slowly open them. A large metal cage had been propped against the door to stop them from getting in. The space was empty other than a single bench facing the center of the room. There were two doors slightly ajar connected to the room from what they could see, with what looked to massive amounts of drag marks from the center of the room to each door.

“That one.” Both Kris and Sehun said at the same time, pointing to the left door. But as they moved towards the door, they ended up stopping as the door opened slightly more and a woman stepped out. Another vampire, although she looked physically a bit older than the other ones that had been seen around. 

“You guys are making things very difficult for me.” She spoke, her tone flat. “But you are quite foolish just barging in here like this. Byungjoon, bring out what they want.” With the last part, A male vampire entered the room, dragging a chain behind him. When he made it to his spot next to the women, he gave the chain a harshed tug, dragging out the person who was on the end of it.

The witch barely looked conscious as his body was dragged across the floor to the horror of the group. 

Both Kris and Junmyeon stepped forward, but the female vampire shook her head. “Any of you make another move and I will have my assistant here kill him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know time are rough, so Stay safe out there! I hate to be that guy, but comments about legit anything make me feel better about posting. I know people are reading, but a n x i e t y tells me not fun things.Also, Question. For the ending would you prefer a more 'explosive' focused ending, or 'feelings/emotions' focused ending? I have two ending written, but I'm not sure which to go with. I should've probably gotten a beta.
> 
> As always, Thank you for reading and stay safe out there.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the comments, they were helpful. Seem's most people didn't care how the ending goes so I picked the one I personally liked more for the next chapter. Then there should be an epilogue unless I chicken out or something.

Something was going on, but the pain was so much Tao couldn’t bring himself to give whatever it was attention. 

Maybe if he was lucky, whatever it was would kill him and end his suffering. Then again, Tao didn't want to die quiet yet, there was some reason he was still alive. Although his memory was cloudy, he felt a pull. As long as Tao was alive, the other would be safer. Maybe they would both be able to get out if Tao held on just long enough.

The chain around his neck was being pulled, and Tao didn’t have the strength to even move, he couldn’t even open his eyes. 

As his body was moved for him, Tao thought he was going crazy upon hearing familiar voices, yet he couldn’t pin point from where. There was that woman, and the man who constantly brought pain, but there were other voices, panicked, calling his name. It was weird, since he didn’t know them. Maybe if he just looked…

Slowly Tao opened his eyes, his vision heavily blurred by whatever they had put in him. There was a group of people, looking at Tao in horror. His old housemates.

The man was grabbing Tao, forcing him up and to a kneeling position. “I find it interesting how the lot of you have come here to die over a simple witch. If you would have stayed away, Things would have been fine.” The woman drowned on, some speech that Tao couldn’t quite focus on. 

If only he could warn them. 

But how could he? Tao could barely move, let alone speak or do any sort of signal. And there was no way for them to know what he would mean. 

He took the time she drowned on about something, gathering the little energy he could. The process was difficult when his blood had been drained and he had been pushed so much, he was able to gather some. Tao managed to tilt his head up, let his instincts take over and made direct eye contact with Kris. Holding the contact was difficult, but he forced himself to do this one thing. There was something comforting about the wolves presence, yet at the same time he could feel the distraught radiating from him.

‘Trap. Don’t breathe. Trap. Don’t breathe. Trap. Don’t breathe. It’s not safe.’ Tao thought over and over, struggling to formulate the words even in his head. The air, it wouldn’t be safe soon. Whatever they had been doing with the blood, it hurt. Tao had been forced to watch the test, he knew why the vampires had been plucking creatures from the streets.

The poor kid. Tao couldn’t remember well, but he remembered the sounds of suffering from the teen as they had tested out the things they had made. They hadn’t killed him, no, they had kept him around to keep testing,to push him to his limits since they were unable to go out.

As long as a creature breathed, it would affect them in a negative way.

Kris’s eyes narrowed at Tao, his brows furrowing. Even if he got the message, it was too late. 

Tao heard the glass shatter and the room was temporarily filled with a red dust like substance. It worked quickly, so the room was filled with painful, dry coughing sounds. The room quickly cleared, Tao unaffected by the mix. Kris had his arm over his face, though he was shaking badly from the fumes. Sehun was knelt on the ground shaking far worse while dry heaving on the floor, Luhan trying to help him. Lastly, Suho stumbled forward in an attempt to do something, but he too was affected and barely was able to keep himself up without the support of Chanyeol.

They barely had time before the sounds of glass shattering again filled the room as the woman threw another vial, the room filled with a much darker red as Tao felt himself being thrown backwards. Horrific, animalistic whimpers of pain filled the room bringing pain to Tao’s heart. More vampires were entering the room, unaffected by the fumes.

Tao hadn’t been able to do much, but he had paid attention. The darker the red, the worse the damage would be. They all were about to be slaughtered, and something in Tao screamed for him to do something, anything to stop it. “Stop.” Tao wheezed out, Shakily pulling himself to his feet. His legs felt like jelly, his body still overwhelmed but he forced himself up. The chain felt heavy on him, weighing him down. 

Just like before the room was quickly clearing, showing the chaos unfolding. Although Kris was still standing, he was struggling to hold off the vampire attacking him. Things were not going well from the others. Sehun was curled up on the floor, letting out sounds of pain, Luhan was holding off a vampire. Chanyeol was trying to keep Junmyeon upright while at the same time having to bat away another vampire. 

All the other vampires circled around the group like vultures, waiting for the simple command to tear into them. 

“Byungjoon,” Daeun spat out, her eyes wide in shock as she stared at Tao. Clearly she was not expecting Tao to be able to stand, but Tao was. He would say it was shocking, but with how close he had been to the edge of death and been able to force himself on it really wasn’t. He could feel a familiar energy starting to build up in him, the protection magic within him. It was weak, clearly at its breaking point with how much it had been used, how much it was keeping him alive, but he didn’t need much. 

This would be the last time.

Instantly Byungjoon moved, trying to get Tao to go down again with the chain. Focusing Tao thought of the chain not being a metal one, but a flimsy, cheap plastic one. Just like the petals before, the chain shifted, turning into a plastic one. Byungjoon’s tugging ended up snapping the weak plastic and freeing Tao. “What in the-”

“Stop it.” Tao repeated, reaching out with shaky hands. Just like before in the alley, a shimmery shield appeared, albeit it a bit shaky and unstable. He only held it long enough to push Byungjoon away, making the vampire hiss out in agony. It quickly vanished, Tao not having enough energy to keep it supported. Silently he cursed himself. They were outnumbered, and all the lead lady had to do was bomb them again and there would be no chance. 

There had to be something. 

“Kill them all.” Daeun ordered, stomping her way over to Tao. Tao could hear the sounds of the others trying to fight, just trying to hold off the vampires. They needed time, time to get out, to get away. Hands enclosed around his throat as he was slammed against the wall. A yelp of pain came from Tao as he was completely unable to move, his vision blacking out for a moment due to the shock.

When his vision came back, A piercing inhuman scream erupted through the room, sending pain through all those who could hear it. A wail, filled with so much pain and fource no person could ignore it. Daeun tensed up as a reaction, crushing the air out of Tao. His vision blurred as Tao strained to see who Chanyeol was wailing over. 

Amongst the vampires and other creatures peeled over in pain, hands clamped over their ears to block out the sounds were bodies on the floor. Most were vampire’s torn apart. But one stuck out in the mess.

Kris was on the floor unmoving. His throat was torn open, blood pooling around him, contrasting against the vampire’s around him. 

No.

No.

No.

Everything in the room froze in place, and it felt as if the room had fallen in complete silence. With the sudden peace, Tao could feel it, the faintest pulse that wasn’t his own. Kris was alive, barely, so close to slipping away. Everything went red, Tao kicking Doyun off of himself, her body falling to the ground awkwardly. Nobody moved to stop him, nobody moved at all in any way. It was then Tao realized things hadn’t stopped figuratively.

Time had actually stopped. Tao had a chance to fix things.

In a painfully slow journey Tao limped over to Kris, every step pure agony. He couldn’t even kneel, collapsing next to Kris on the floor instead. The elders eyes were closed, his chest barely moving as he struggled to breath. Tears sprung to Tao’s eyes, carefully reaching out to touch Kris. 

Not Again. Oh God, please not again. 

Kris had wronged him, But he didn’t deserve this. They needed to grow together, to learn more about each other, to bond properly. And It was all Tao fault he was here in the first place. He had just wanted to help Tao, to prove he had been wrong.

There was no way Tao could take another death because of him. 

“Please.” Tao whispered. The magic fought him, knowing it’s intended purpose was to stay with him and protect him. But it was Tao’s now, and he had the right to do what he wanted with it now. He had the ability to control it and do as he wanted. Sure, it was the only thing keeping him upright, But For Kris, it would keep him alive. 

A Brief flash of purple filled the room, and many things happened at once. 

The door blew open, Jeabum’s group storming in along with Kyungsoo and Kai. 

Time began again, although Chanyeol was no longer wailing, everyone seemed to be stunned by whatever had just happened. It gave Jaebum’s pack the advantage, the elder tearing through the vampires before him like some sort of monster. But he was one, they all were, but he no longer resembled a human. He was something Tao had never seen before, even in his books, and Tao’s brain couldn’t even begin to comprehend it. 

Tao’s body went limp, collapsing next to Kris at the same time time Kris’s eyes opened. They looked at each other on the floor, both unable to do anything. The eyes looking at him were unfocused and cloudy, but they never once strayed away. There were screams around them, before Tao felt himself being lifted and away from Kris. Part of him wanted to fight, but he didn’t.

Whoever was lifting him wasn’t a vampire.

But as he was being led away, Tao spoke up. “Cages….door. …...others.” The person carrying paused, yelling out for someone to check behind the doors.Tao watched with fading vision as Jackson picked up Kris, hoisting him over his shoulder before following them out. 

Things faded in and out, they were in a dark tunnel, then there was blinding light. Behind them were the sounds of rumbling, then the next time it was rushing water. Someone was crying.

“Keep them near each other, It’s keeping him alive right now.” A voice said. 

Then everything went to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, stay safe out there!


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got nothing to say.

Tao slowly blinked his eyes open, confused about the surroundings. Sitting up, he realized he was back in his own bed. His attention was immediately brought to the fact that Kris was next to him in the bed, his throat bandaged up and his breathing sounded more like wheezing. 

But he was alive. 

When it came to himself, Tao didn’t feel much better. Although he could tell he was no longer at death’s door, his body still felt weak and sore, he didn’t even want to get up. All he wanted was to lay in bed for a few days and heal up best he could.

“He’s awake!” A voice yelled out, Yangyang appearing on the side of the bed. Next to him was the teen that had been in the vampire layer, looking much better then he had before. He still looked banged up and a little pale, but Tao was relieved to see he had made it out alive. Yanyang looked on the verge of tears, clinging onto the boy next to him. 

“You stopped breathing.” Yangyang said, his eyes flickering between Tao and Kris and making Tao wonder if he was referring to both of them. “Yixing passed out while trying to heal both of you. Nobody was sure-” The teen choked on his words, the other patting his back in comfort. 

Tao wasn’t given much time to process the door opening and a very exhausted Junmyeon came in. In all honesty, he looked like complete shit, his face pale with a massive scratch mark on it, he was limping but trying to act like he wasn’t. With how many people had been hurt, Yixing wouldn’t have had the ability to treat all of them. 

Jeabum was quick to follow Junymeon in, but he stood off the the side. He looked in a better state than Junmyeon, probably since he hadn’t inhaled the red dust. But the other leader still looked weary.

“Yanyang, Kunhang, I think it would be good to give them space now. Tao’s awake and Kris is fine.” Junymeon said softly, giving a plain smile to the two boys. Yangyang’s face fell, but he and the other teen ended up leaving after looking back at least twice. 

The elder sat on the bed next to Tao, looking over the witch. There was such care in his gaze, it only made him feel more guilty over the fact they had almost just died.

“You should have left me. I-” 

But Junmyeon shook his head, reaching out and running his hand over Tao’s hair. “There’s no way we could have left you Tao. I was weak and confused, But you are one of us. I should have never allowed them to take you in the first place. I don’t think any of us could have forgiven ourselves if we had left you there. Kris was going crazy.” 

Tao’s eyes traveled to the wolf next to him, the other stirring in his sleep. 

“We couldn’t get to them all, and I’m sure they will try to come back here. But we are ready this time, and have the whole of Jeabum’s pack to support us.” Tao sighed, figuring there was no way they were out of the woods just yet. There had been dozens of vampires, even if they had killed every single one in the room, there were plenty more around. But something about Junmyeon's words stuck Tao in an odd way. 

“Wait, his whole pack?”

“Yes. Yugyeom was found in the same spot as Kunhang. Turns out the vampires had taken Yangyang’s friend along with you two. It was a close call, but Jinyoung would never allow someone to hurt his, well, as he put it, child.” 

Tao felt himself relax at the comment. They had all made it out. That was unless Junmyeon was about to drop a bombshell and tell Tao that someone had died in the fight. But from how his face was relatively calm and nobody had hinted at there being any death, Tao assumed the best of the situation. 

The elder lightly grabbed Kris’s leg, gently shaking him in an attempt to awaken the wolf. Kris merely shifted in his spot, but Tao took over and soon Kris was sitting up and blinking at the two of them in confusion. 

Without thinking, Tao reached up and brushed a hand over his own throat. He had been so close to death, one more move and Daeun would have finished him off. Now Tao wouldn’t have a safety net, giving the last of his protection magic to keep Kris alive. He couldn’t feel in anymore, not even coming from Kris. It was gone, his sister's last gift to him.

At least Kris was alive.

Just as quickly the peace was broken by shouting and glass shattering below. 

“There here!” Screamed someone, before there was the shattering of glass again and again. Tao stumbled out of bed, struggling to stand. His body ached and he still felt weak, Junmyeon was quick to support him. 

“You guys need to go, we will deal with them.” Jaebum’s voice cut in, instantly at the bed and dragging Kris up and pushing toward Junmyeon. 

“But-” Tao protested. He may still be unwell, but he could stay and help. He still had his magic, even if he couldn’t move quite right.

“The car’s ready.” Junmyeon cut in, nudging Tao forward. “They got here fast then I thought, but everyone else knows the plan.” Tao was confused, but made his way to the door. He hated this, barely being able to keep himself up. But Junmyeon was there to support the two of them, Jeabum moving to the window to see what was going on. 

“Listen to Junmyeon. We got this, it’s what we do.” Jeabum said, his voice becoming more raspy as his appearance started to change, shifting into that which looked unreal.

They barely made it to the door before the windows of the room shattered and a molotov cocktail landed on the floor, instantly catching the carpet on fire. Junmyeon was quick, putting out the fire as Jaebum slipped out the new hole in the window to deal with the vampires outside.

Smoke filled the air as they made their way downstairs, Junmyeon leading the two best he could while trying to avoid the fire. It was hot, Tao’s flesh feeling as if it were on fire despite not being near the flames. It had spread quickly, burning everything like crazy and blocking them from the front door. It was to much for the eldest to put out. 

The group couldn’t help but panic, Tao coughing violently with the amount of smoke entering his lungs.

Kris was doing little better, slumping fully onto Junmyeon as he struggled to breathe.This only sent them more into a panic, Junmyeon struggling to drag the two towards the back of the house. Even still, there was another crash of glass breaking in the living room and the fire roared, having fuel added to it from the extra molotov cocktail.

They ran into Chanyeol who without a word ended up slinging a very weak Kris over his shoulder and sprinting to the back door. This made it easier for Junmyeon to pick up Tao and run himself.

The cold air hitting Tao felt like a slap in the face, but he didn’t mind it as he was finally able to breathe properly. After a lack of rest and calmness, he would take what he could. Even if it meant the pair came face to face with a vampire that was quick to swipe at them. Junymeon dodged, and the Vampire was quickly removed by a blur of black followed by a scream of pain. 

There were a few more vampire’s surrounding the car, but every time one got too close the same black blur appeared and the vampire would fall to the ground lifeless. 

“Get going.” A voice hissed out.

Before Tao could register what had done that, Junmyeon was running towards the car at full speed. The backdoor was open, Kris seated in the small space and watching the chaos going on with half closed eyes. Junmyeon didn’t hesitate to toss Tao into the open back next to the wolf, the witch hitting the back of the seat painful hard and letting off a yelp of pain. Kris quickly moved to sooth him. 

Junmyeon hadn’t even made it fully in before the car was moving, speeding over the rough terrain to get out of there. But the male made it in easily, sinking into the small open area next to Tao and apologizing for being so rough. 

Through the back Window Tao watched as the house he once lived in was engulfed in flames, smok rising high into the sky. The large structure would be completely erased, all except the pool maybe. But nothing else would survive, so hopefully people had been able to grab important things before they left. Junmyeon had mentioned a plan, so there was a chance things had been saved.

A few of the vampires gave chase, matching the speed of the car, but they quickly were taken by the thing from before. It was hard to find words to describe this creature as well, but a mass of black that had the consistency of smoke was a start,the things being another creature Tao had never seen or even heard of before. He couldn’t tell who it was, but it was clear that Jeabum’s group consisted of creatures of a whole new type. It was scary how well they were able to appear human, yet now they were practically indescribable. 

As they drove on, Tao could still see smoke high above the tree’s as they grew thicker around them. Despite the rest from before, Exhaustion consumed him. Tao allowed his body to lean against Kris, having to curl into the other in the tight space. The car was filled with full murmuring, but he couldn’t distinguish anything they were saying. But he could tell one of the voice’s was the wolf’s, the elder brushing his fingers through the witch's hair.

For his whole time living in the house, Tao had felt the slightest weight in the back of his mind, a reminder of what he was, a reminder he was chained down and unable to do as he wished. Yet as he was lulled to sleep by the rocking of the car and the comforting presence of those around him, watching the darkening color of the sky, the weight slowly slipped away. 

Nothing made sense, everything was chaos, yet somehow, Tao felt free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the last chapter. There will be an epilogue, but I can't even remotely tell you when because chaos has broken out here lol. If there is anything you want to see touched on please comment it and ill try to make sure I added it. Special point's go to anyone who knows why Tao feels free. Ultra Bonus points if anyone knows who was the black cloud following the car. Thanks for reading.


	31. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is is.

The sweltering hot mid afternoon air greeted Tao as he stepped out of the parked car. Looking up at the outside of the house, he was still struggling to get used to the new place. It was smaller and more modern, with only six bedrooms so most of them had to share. With so many new people it was a bit stuffy, But the two youngest spent most of their time out of the house only doing who knows what. Yet they always managed to slip back in when Kyungsoo was cooking. 

“Are you ready to go in? It’s too hot.” Jongin stated, shielding himself best from the light with the sack of groceries he was holding. After what had gone down, the vampire had not felt comfortable holding his old name, and Tao couldn’t blame him. Not wanting to risk the vampire being burned, Tao nodded and grabbed the other bags and carried them to the house. 

It was weird entering straight into a living room and not a large open space, but having town only be 30 minutes away yet still having privacy was an alright exchange. And it was much harder to throw things over a balcony then there wasn’t one. 

“Took you long enough.” Sehun voiced from the couch, revealing himself to be in the exact same spot he had been when Tao had left, although now he was using Luhan as a pillow. Smiling, Tao walked over and dropped the bag directly on the wolf, getting a yelp.

“Yep. And now your lazy ass can put everything away.” Before the wolf could complain, Tao made a break for it, bolting to his room before someone else had something they needed from him. He flopped on the bed, yet his peace was quickly interrupted by the door of his room opening. 

But instead of any pesky teens or creatures acting like they didn’t know how to use the washer, It was Kris who slipped in the room quietly as possible in a clear attempt to not bother Tao. “You don’t have to be careful, I’m awake.” Tao sat up on the bed, stretching his arms over his head. It still felt too hot even with the two fan’s set up in the room, but Tao wasn’t going to move to the living room where the air conditioning was until he got a small break in.

Kris did little more than hum in response, moving over to the foot of the bed and sitting. Just like Tao, Kris wasn’t a fan of being in their room when it was so hot. That left Tao with one idea.

“Sehun tried to get you to put the stuff away for him?”

“Yes.”

A small chuckle fell from Tao’s lips, and Kris rolled his eyes. The wolf was getting better at dealing with Sehun, but it was a lengthy process. Tao could admit avoiding the other did kinda count on dealing with him. Still, Tao would kick him into gear and make him be more firm later.

They sat together in a peaceful silence, one much less awkward than it had been when they first started sharing the room. With the limited space every one had to share rooms, and Tao and Kris had wanted the same one, and had agreed it would be alright to share. And despite all their problems, things had worked rather smoothly, and Tao had felt comfort from being around the other.

They were mates after all.

“You know…” Kris started, And Tao looked up to see the other looking at him. Quickly Tao realized he had been rubbing the mating mark on his throat again. 

“I’ve been talking to Jaebum.” The wolf said. It wasn’t anything new, Kris did still go see the other occasionally. Even so, Tao could tell the other was almost nervous, as if he was trying to figure out how to word something. What was Kris going to say?

“Please don’t take this wrong, but I was worried about how it was between us. He was saying accidentally mating was rare, but it was something that happened. It’s something that could only happen between those who were mates anyway, not just randomly.” Tao nodded at the others' words. He completely understood the worrying, he himself had part of him that hated it. He feared that everything between the two of them was only due to some bond. Did he actually like being around Kris, or was it something the bound forced?

“But, He said a mating bond can’t force you to have a positive feeling towards someone, it can only make you connected to them. Which makes sense, wolves don’t suddenly love their mate more when they bond from what I was taught.” 

Well that made things a bit more comfortable. 

“Kris, don’t feel weird about being worried.” Tao crawled over to Kris and flopped down so his head was in his lap and he could look up at his face. “I’m worried too. And honestly, I’m glad you asked. Being controlled, forced to feel things you don’t want to, that is a scary thought.” Kris stared down at Tao, seeming to realize that Tao had a truth to his words. If Tao was a witch to any other group, he could have ended up with such a fate.

Tao reached up, brushing a few hairs out of the elders face. A smirk felt on Tao’s face. “Besides, I’m you mate and you should tell me your woes and buy me all the things I want.” Tao teased. 

The hard look on Kris’s face finally slipped again, being replaced by a soft smile.

“Is that so? I think you make more than me. Isn't this the age of equality?” Tao rolled his eyes. Before he could come up with a witty remark there was a knock on the door. Great, Tao’s peace was already over. He was half tempted to yell he wasn’t contracted to them anymore and they couldn’t make him do anything, but that seemed like a bit much. Besides, even if the contract was broken, he still did work for Junmyeon.

Junmyeon popped his head in. “Yanyang and Hendery are outside and want you two to meet their new pack.” The elder said, leaving the door when he walked away. From how Yangyang had managed to rope in Hendery and his Fiance so easily in the stories he told, It came as no shock the teen had managed to find their own pack in his running about. Sure, it would be sad to not have the teen pestering him, but Tao was also relieved they had found their own group.

Walking outside, Tao was taken aback seeing more than a handful chatting with Junmyeon and Yixing. Yangyang was indeed a fast worker, It hadn’t been that long, making proper packs was supposed to take years. 

As Tao made his way closer his eyes fell on one of the teens in particular and his heart felt as if it stopped. Without realizing it he had frozen in place, Kris beside Tao staring at him looking at the witch in confusion. But Tao couldn’t believe the sign before him.

“Dejun?” Tao asked, finally able to speak. The teen turned towards his voice, Tao seeing the face he never thought he would see again. He was running straight for the teen, making it across the yard in record time and pulling the teen in a hug. His brother let out a sound of surprise. “Dejun, It’s you. You’re alive.” Tao’s voice shook as he spoke. 

His brother realized who it was, and Tao was quickly hugged back. The whole group watched on in complete confusion as the brothers hugged each other. 

“Tao, you know Xiaojun?” Yangyang asked, cutting into their reunion. The two pulled apart, Tao looking over his brother and confirming once again it was his brother for real standing before him, alive and well. “Xiaojun, you said your brother's name was Huang. Hendery, Back me up here!” Yangyang shouted, but the other simply shrugged.

“I said his name was Huang Zitao, you just ignored his first name.” Dejun chided, but he was quick to smile and forgive the younger. “But it worked out anyway.” 

His brother went on to explain that the day he had gotten taken in the water, he had ended up washing ashore and running into Yangyang. Well, he had accidently picked up Yangyangs’s feather token, barring the younger one from being able to transform. Whomever takes or is given the token typically is then engaged to the swan maiden. 

Tao wanted to ask his brother to stay, having the younger live with him like they had been before and watch over him. But as he watched his brother interact with his new packs, fitting in perfectly and not once being treated as anything lesser, Tao came to realize he didn’t need his brother there. Just like his brother, Tao had found his own pack, his own family, he wasn’t alone. Just knowing his brother was alive and well was enough.

Goodbyes were given with promises of keeping in touch. Tao didn’t know where his brother was going, but not once did he ever show discomfort or say anything when the others were out of ear shot. Somehow Tao was able to compose himself as he watched his brother leave through the window, not one tear falling from his eyes. 

Something in the reflection of the window caught Tao’s attention, forcing him to turn around abruptly. Standing before him was his sister, although she looked more like an ethereal ghost with a soft purple glow. She looked the exact same she had on the day she died, as if she had been ripped right from the. Her eyes glowed bright purple, but unlike before they were completely focused on Tao. A small smile sat on her face.

“I’m so proud of you.”

With that she was gone, disappearing right before his eyes just as quickly as she appeared. 

That was the line that broke Tao, tears finally streaming down his face. He stood there, staring at the spot as the continued to flow and Tao felt a whirlwind of emotions. 

“What’s wrong?” Kris looked concerned, not being gone for more than a few minutes and returning to see the other in tears. The wolf fumbled around the desk, before finding a napkin and patting it on Tao's face to whip away the tears. 

“There’s nothing wrong….” Tao said, before cracking a smile at the other. “I’m just happy.” He reached out and took Kris’s hand to stop him, then planted a soft peck on the others lips. The wolf’s eyes went wide in surprise, but Tao could see the glint of happiness there too. 

“I know things have been difficult, and they will still be hard, But I’m okay with that. I’m ready to figure things out, and I think it will be nice to have someone like you by my side.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you to all of you who have taken the time to read this whole thing. This was my first attempt ever writing something like this, and It makes me feel better knowing other got enjoyment from this fic. I really did try, yet I still can't help but feel like this wasn't good enough. I really wish there was more romance, but it was more focused on Tao dealing with the world. And I'm the first to admit I'm pretty bad at writing romance. But, I do like this enough to not delete it any time soon. I Think like most writers ive seen, I got burned out at the end and no matter what I wrote I would have not liked it.
> 
> If there is any questions you have, feel free to comment them below and I will answer them best I can. I tried to make everything clear at some point, but I know it doesn't always come across right. 
> 
> I think i will be writing a oneshot of how Yixing and Junymeon met since It's been stuck in my head since I posted the first chapter. I have backstories for everyone which have been hinted at, but I'm not sure I would be able to write them all. If I'm really confident, I might one day fill in what happened to Kris and Sehun in the past in a oneshot. Who knows. Sorry for rambling. 
> 
> As Always, Thank you so much for reading, comments, leaving kudos, whatever you do. It all means the world to me. Stay safe out there.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any questions, comments, complaints, concerns or requests, please let me know.  
[ Curious Cat](https://curiouscat.me/sutaoris)  
[Twitter](https://twitter.com/sutaoris)


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